


Count on Me

by overcomera



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Angst, M/M, Minki is a child in this one, Romance, Slow Burn, also idk where im going with this but we'll see i guess, i dont know how lawyers work so this is not accurate at all ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overcomera/pseuds/overcomera
Summary: Minhyun was a bored lawyer who hated his job and dreaded going to work every morning. Dongho was a divorced father fighting for joint custody of his three-year-old son. Minhyun gets assigned Dongho's case, thinking that it would be another mundane part of his job, and that Dongho would be just another annoying client.But as the case becomes more and more complicated, so does the relationship between them.
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun/Kang Dongho | Baekho
Comments: 178
Kudos: 175
Collections: N.S.S. 2019





	1. First

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wintercrystale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercrystale/gifts).



> Hello dear requester. Merry Christmas, and I really hope you like this!!! I know my writing is like sub-par but I tried.
> 
> Anywho, when I read this prompt, my head immediately pictures BaekMin lol it was really interesting prompt and I kinda rolled too far with it, so it'll probably be a few chapters before it's done. I promise I won't take too long. Sorry I couldn't finish it before the deadline!
> 
> Enjoy :)

As it turns out, being a lawyer mostly meant doing paperwork. When he was an overzealous teenager deciding his career path, Hwang Minhyun had a completely different impression of the profession. He thought he would get to stand in front of a judge and passionately argue for the rights of his clients, like they do in all the movies. He thought he would be making a real difference in the community, helping minorities, helping sentence bad guys to jail.

But no. There he was, filling out a completion form for his law firm’s records after yet another boring divorce case was closed. Divorces have been so common these days, and for Minhyun, it was annoying dealing with the ex-couple’s banters and trying to reach a settlement when they were always so damn stubborn all the damn time.

“Hey Hwang, I have another case for you,” his boss, Aron, called out to him from the door of the executive office.

 _Please not another divorce_ , he prayed. _Please, please, please._ He would rather deal with the annoying contract dispute cases where he has to mull over 70 pages of boring legal jargon than deal with another divorce case…

“It’s a divorce case...”

Minhyun groaned internally, wishing he could decline the task. Sadly, however, he didn’t have the power to do that yet. He was still an associate lawyer, meaning he had to do everything the boss lawyers wanted him to do. It was an unspoken rule that Minhyun dared not question; the job market for lawyers was a war zone these days.

Some people had it easier than others though. Case in point: Aron. Aron was a young lawyer with just a few years of experience, but he was recently promoted for some reason. Minhyun was just a little bitter about that: Aron was nice and all, but wasn’t very good at his job. He hated reading documents, and even his vocabulary was sub-par for a lawyer (why does he _always_ say “love and support”? They’re like the _only_ two words in his dictionary.)

He was handsome though, and Minhyun assumed that that was a big part of it. Clients loved him (especially the females), and even judges fell for his charms. His charm was probably the only reason he won so many cases and got promoted.

Getting promoted meant Aron was able to avoid all the boring cases, and unfortunately, Minhyun ended up with them instead.

“The man, Kang Dongho, was married for four years,” Aron briefed Minhyun. “He and his wife have a three-year-old son together, and the wife wants sole custody. Dongho wants to share custody. The wife has some shit on him though, now he’s seeking a lawyer. So just have a look at the case and sort it out,” Aron handed Minhyun the file. “Sorry for throwing this one at you, Min, but I have my hands full with this celebrity sexual assault case.”

 _Why does he get all the interesting cases?_ Minhyun thought. It was so unfair.

When Aron left, Minhyun opened the file and groaned. There was a lot of paper there, and he would probably need hours to go through them all. And he still had a ton of paperwork from his last case to finish.

He hated his job.

-

Kang Dongho loved his son more than anything else in the world.

It had already been weeks seen he had last seen little Minki. His ex-wife wasn’t even letting him near the boy, no matter how much he begged. Just a few minutes was all he wanted, but she wasn’t even granting him that.

It was not like he could do anything about it after the last incident, an incident which earned her temporary sole custody and a restraining order.

He wished the stupid law firm would hurry up with his case already. He had submitted his case to the firm and met with Aron weeks ago, but still, no updates.

Dongho didn’t like Aron very much. Sure the guy was nice and good-looking, but he was also so damn slow and didn’t seem to care enough about the case the way that Dongho wanted him to care.

Dongho felt a little silly for wanting his lawyer to be passionate about this; after all, Aron was just a lawyer who probably dealt with hundreds of these cases before. But for Dongho, so much was at stake, and if he was going to depend on someone to get him the results he wanted, he wished it would be someone who cared, even just a little. 

When Aron called him and told him the case will be dealt with by another lawyer, Dongho was furious. They really didn’t care, did they? It was unnerving that something so important to him rested in the hands of a people who treated it like a dispensable chore.

He didn’t let the anger get the best of him though. He needed to be on their good side if they were going to win this case for him. He just prayed that the new lawyer would care enough to go above and beyond for him.

Dongho received a phone call from the new lawyer the following day.

 _“Hello, is this Kang Dongho?”_ said a deep, husky voice.

“Yes, it is.”

“ _Hello Dongho, I’m Hwang Minhyun. I’ll be handling your custody case. I reviewed your file, and I have a few things to ask you so we can take this forward. Do you have time to come to the firm today?”_

Judging by his voice, the new lawyer seemed so much more well-spoken and mature than Aron, which was a relief. So when he went into the lawyer’s meeting room later that day, he was expecting to see an older man.

He was surprised to see someone young and attractive instead.

 _Probably an intern or something_ , Dongho reasoned.

“Is Hwang Minhyun around?” Dongho asked as he entered.

“That would be me,” Minhyun said with that deep voice Dongho recognized from the phone. The lawyer stood up and reached out to shake Dongho’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Minhyun was tall and handsome, actor-level handsome. It was a little jarring to hear that voice on that face. Dongho was so distracted by the face that he didn’t even notice that Minhyun was holding out his hand for Dongho to shake.

“Dongho?” Minhyun said, shaking Dongho out of his daze.

“Oh sorry,” Dongho said, taking Minhyun’s hand. “I was just surprised. You’re not what I expected.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Minhyun chuckled.

“Aren’t you like… too young?” Dongho asked.

“I recently graduated,” Minhyun told him. “But don’t worry, your case is in good hands.”

Indeed, they were “good hands.” Dongho was still shaking Minhyun’s hand, and damn, they were _soft_. Dongho shook such thoughts away. It was thoughts like those that culminated in his current miserable situation after all.

They both took a seat, and Minhyun went straight to the point: “Alright, so I’ll tell you what I got from reviewing your files. Tell me if there’s any important detail that you want me to know, or anything that I missed, alright?”

“Okay.” Dongho took a deep breath and prepared himself to hear all the embarrassing details of his life from a complete stranger.

“After four years, your wife filed for a divorce because of infidelity,” Minhyun said, skimming through the notes from his notebook. “You admit to this infidelity, and willingly abided by all the divorce proceedings. She got the house and mostly everything in it, and you agreed to let her have it. She got all of the money in your joint account. She also wants sole custody, but you’re fighting that. She’s using your infidelity to show that you are an incompetent father. She says that, and I quote, ‘he has sexual relations with young men’...”

“Let me stop you right there. It was _one_ man. And he was my age! She made it sound so much worse than it is.”

Minhyun jotted down a few notes and continued, “alright. But she also says that he was your _student._ Is that true?”

Dongho put his head down in shame.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Minhyun said, writing more notes.

“But he was my age,” Dongho repeated. “We were consenting adults.”

“He was over 18, so it’s not a criminal offense, but still, it doesn’t look too good on your record. You know what else doesn’t look good? It says here that you tried to break into her home last week. Got a restraining order...”

“She was keeping Minki away from me!” Dongho interrupted loudly, hitting the table.

“No need to get riled, Dongho. I understand, and I’m here to help. I’m on your side.” Minhyun then smiled.

Dongho tried to calm down, but somehow Minhyun was making him angrier. Why was Minhyun smiling? This was not funny. This was injustice, and Dongho wanted Minhyun to react accordingly.

But no, he was sitting there calmly, reciting Dongho’s story as if he were talking about how nice the weather was today.

Dongho bit back his anger and let Minhyun continue. Maybe Minhyun would show more emotion when he talked about the _real_ injustice.

“Your wife says that she’s afraid that your son will be in danger around you. Because of your sexual preferences…”

“I would _NEVER_ do anything to harm a hair on my son’s head,” Dongho yelled, interrupting. He didn’t want to hear that unspeakable accusation, and certainly not from this lawyer.

“She has evidence…”

“Evidence!? You mean the fucking videos? I’m a playful and touchy person, and she twisted everything to make it seem like I’m this… this _monster._ ”

“I watched the videos, Dongho. Alone, those videos are just a father having fun with his son. But paired with everything else that happened, it’s easy for the judge to think otherwise.”

There he was again, talking about injustice in such a calm and collected manner. No passion. No heart. No “this is so fucked up; your wife is a bitch.” No “we need to put this woman in jail.” Not even sympathy. Just stoic professionalism and a fake smile.

Whenever Dongho thought of his ex-wife’s accusations, he felt furious. Now, he was feeling that fury surface again; he wanted to yell and scream and cry.

“Minki is my whole world,” Dongho muttered under his breath.”Being accused of wanting to…” He couldn’t even say it. “Being accused of something so heinous makes me want to… _kill_ her.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t say that in court,” Minhyun warned. Cue the fake smile.

“I can’t help it. I hate her,” Dongho mumbled. “And you should too, but you lawyers have no emotions.”

Minhyun chuckled. “Trust me, Dongho. We have emotions; we’re just trained to keep them at bay. We don’t win cases by screaming and crying. We win cases with well-reasoned, calm, and dispassionate arguments.”

That silenced Dongho. He felt himself calm down.

Minhyun continued: “Do you think she actually believes those things about you, or is she lying to make a case for sole custody?”

“She’s lying,” Dongho said with certainty. “She has known me for years, and knows I’m not that kind of person. She knows I love Minki and would never hurt him.”

“Why do you think she wants to keep Minki away then?”

“Because... she’s homophobic and doesn’t want my sexuality to ‘rub off’ on our son. She’s also angry with me for cheating on her and wants to make me suffer.”

Minhyun began jotting down notes. “Do you have any evidence for what you just said? Any text messages or videos or something showing that she is indeed homophobic? Better yet, any evidence that she doesn’t want you around Minki because of your sexuality? Anything else that show how she wants to make you suffer?”

“I… I think there are some messages. Most of it was from face to face conversations though.”

Minhyun jotted down some notes and said, “alright Dongho, here’s what I want you to do: write a report on the conversations you’ve had, and if there are screenshots of text messages, or any other evidence really, send it over, alright?”

Dongho nodded.

“Also, it would make your case so much stronger if you got a job. I know the Music Academy you worked for fired you after the affair was brought to light, but you _need_ to find something else and fast. To have custody over a child, you need the means to take care of him. And your bank account isn’t looking too great either.”

“I know,” Dongho murmured. “I’ll find a source of income.”

Minhyun then smiled again. “You managed to calm down fast!” he pointed out. “Just a minute ago, you were threatening to murder someone!” He chuckled.

“I still want to murder someone,” Dongho murmured in response.

“I know, but you’re keeping it in your heart. Facade is everything, Dongho, especially when you’re in front of a judge. Manage your anger. Let _your wife_ be the one to get angry, and you stay calm. That’s the sure way to get the judge to favor you. If you say things like ‘I hate her’ and ‘she deserves to go to jail,’ then the judge won’t take you seriously. If you show that you have anger issues, than the judge might even think you were an abusive father.”

Dongho scoffed. “It’s fucked up that your life could be ruined because you got angry one time, in a situation when you have every right to be angry. The court system is fucked.”

Minhyun smiled again.“You don’t need to tell me about how fucked up the court system is, Dongho. I know that very well.”

“Ha! You cursed!” he pointed an accusing finger at him. Dongho felt victorious. “At least I got a semblance of emotion from the robo-lawyer!”

Minhyun laughed at that. A genuine laugh. A laugh that made Dongho inadvertently smile. For such a cool, calm, and collected lawyer, Minhyun’s laugh was pleasantly goofy.

“And now you’re laughing,” Dongho said. “Looks like you have emotions after all.”

“Oops, I let my guard down,” Minhyun said, still smiling.

Suddenly Dongho found that his courteous smile wasn’t as annoying as it was before. On the contrary, it was kind of nice.

“Now that you’ve confirmed that I’m not a robot, let’s get back to being robots,” he continued. “There’s still a lot of work to be done if we’re going to win this.”

“Are we going to win this?” Dongho asked. He had his doubts.

“We are, Dongho,” Minhyun replied. “You can count on me.”


	2. Chapter 2

The case was a lot more interesting than Minhyun thought it would be, mostly because it was challenging. Minhyun had to twist a defamatory story in Dongho’s favor, and it required a lot of skill to find the right approach to take, the right events to highlight, the right evidence and testimonies to collect. It was so much more interesting than the typical divorce cases that Minhyun had grown so tired of.

The client was a little annoying though. He came off as rude and obviously had trouble controlling his emotions. Minhyun had been afraid the guy would punch him in that meeting. Minhyun was proud of himself for how he handled Dongho though. He was able to keep it professional and calm the client down and convince him that Minhyun was on his side.

In all honesty though, Minhyun wasn’t so sure he  _ was _ on the client’s side, morally speaking. Maybe Dongho was indeed abusive and unfit to raise a little boy; he certainly seemed like the type to lash out.

That’s the thing with being a lawyer: you have to defend the client, no matter how much of an asshole they are. Even if the client is likely in the wrong, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. You have to pretend their side of the story is true and manipulate the truth to make it more convincing. In this profession, what you personally feel doesn’t matter.

Being a lawyer had long abated Minhyun’s sense of right and wrong. Dongho was right about one thing: he really had become a “robo-lawyer.” Devoid of emotion. Devoid of morals. Mechanically defending anyone who paid him to do so.

Minhyun talked himself out of thinking about Dongho in any negative way. He had to defend the guy at all costs, and doubting him would only shake his conviction in front of the judge. If he showed any hesitation at all about his belief in Dongho’s side of the story, it would not end well for any of them. Minhyun knew that from experience.

Recalling that particular trial where he let his personal feelings get in the way of his work, Minhyun felt embarrassed.

Something like that was  _ never  _ going to happen again.

Later that night, Dongho sent Minhyun his reports and evidence, including text messages and comments from his wife’s Naver account hating on gay celebreties. It was good evidence in Dongho’s favor. Minhyun was confident that he would make a good case in front of the judge.

“It’s looking good so far,” Minhyun explained to Dongho in their next meeting. “There are just a few loose ends. First of all, I think we should get a testimony from your lover and bring him to the court.”

Dongho looked blank for a second. He didn’t seem very fond of the idea. “I… I don’t think that… I...” he trailed off.

Minhyun beckoned him to finish his sentence. “You don’t what, Dongho?”

“He doesn’t like me.”

“But he slept with you?”

“He liked me  _ then _ ,” Dongho explained. “But now he hates me because I left him.”

“Were you ever even  _ with _ him?” Minhyun asked.

“No, not really. I just ended our relationship.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to lose my son over him. And yet here I am…” Dongho balled his fists.

“You’re not going to lose your son, Dongho. Remember,  _ you can count on me _ ,” Minhyun told him (clients loved it when he said that). “Now tell me what happened.”

“When she caught us in the act,” Dongho explained, “that bitch threatened to take Minki away from me. That’s why I ended things with Jonghyun--his name--he’s hated me ever since. He says I took advantage of him…”

“And did you? Be honest.”

“No, of course not. I  _ really _ liked him...” he trailed off again. “It’s too personal. I’d rather not share.”

“I’m your lawyer, Dongho. If you want me to present a good case for you, I have to know these things. And I’ll only highlight what makes you look good, I promise.”

Dongho hesitated for a moment, eyeing Minhyun with caution as he decided whether or not to open up. Eventually, he took a deep breath and began: “I taught him music theory for two years as his private tutor. We got along well and became friends. Our relationship was far from the typical teacher-student relationship of power; we were genuinely good friends. Soon enough, the sexual tension began, and we both knew it was there, but neither of us acted on it. I resisted him for so long to uphold my marriage vows, but one day, I caved and I kissed him, and he kissed me back, and things escalated pretty quickly. I know I was wrong, but it felt so right then.

“I’m not a bad person.You have to understand. I was in the closet for so long, trapped in a sexless marriage with someone I never liked, someone I was never even attracted to in the first place. Then I found Jonghyun, who I liked and was attracted to, who wanted it just as badly as I did. When it happened, I was happy, and was willing to let go of everything for him, everything except Minki.

“But then she came in, and she saw us together. She screamed and cried. She threatened to take Minki. I think Jonghyun expected me to just walk away from her and my son for him. And I don’t blame him. I was the one who initiated, and in the end, I wasn’t willing to commit. Makes me look bad, doesn’t it?”

Dongho peered at Minhyun expectantly for an answer. Minhyun, who was jotting down some notes, said: “it does, but we can twist it. You were willing to let go of someone you love for your son. Shows how much you love your son.”

Something about Dongho’s face changed when Minhyun said that.

“What?” Minhyun asked when he noticed.

“Nothing, it’s just…” Dongho trailed off again. “Just when you said I loved Jonghyun. I never thought about it like that, but you’re right. I loved him.”

“Past tense?”

“No,” Dongho said with no hesitation. “Present tense. I still think about him all the time.”

“Does he love you?”

“I don’t know. Why does it matter?”

“It matters,” Minhyun said. “Which is why I want to talk to him. If you would give me his number, then…”

“I think we should keep Jonghyun out of this,” Dongho said firmly. 

“But why? He might help your case. He could tell everyone that you’re not what your wife says you are...”

“No. Just drop it.”

In Minhyun’s experience, when a client resists bringing in a certain witness, it’s because that client was hiding something.

Minhyun put down his pen, crossed his arms and sat back. “I need to know why you’re so against me talking to him.”

“It’s just because I don't want him to drag him into this!” Dongho explained. “I don't want him to get hurt. He's a very private person, and I don't think he would want to come in front of a judge and talk about me and what happened between us, okay? Now can we move on?”

Minhyun just nodded, “okay.”

He didn’t tell Dongho that as his lawyer, he had the right to seek out the witnesses, with or without his permission.

-

Dongho walked out the law firm feeling hopeful. This Minhyun fellow was smart, and he did diligent work. He was just annoyingly prim and proper in a way that irritated Dongho to no end.

Baekho liked to be friends with the people he worked with. He could never do “professional” relationships; it was against his nature. Case in point: Jonghyun.

Jonghyun was his supposed “student” but Dongho was quick to put down any formality barriers, and within days, they became close friends, often drinking beer and eating muffins together after class.

Dongho really loved everything about Jonghyun. That man was the kindest, most refreshing person Dongho had ever met.

_ Why did I have to ruin everything? _

Thinking about it now, Dongho wished that his relationship with Jonghyun had been professional from the start. He wished he had been as stoic and as distant as Minhyun was being now. That would have saved both him and Jonghyun a lot of pain if their association had never amounted to anything more than a teacher-student relationship.

He missed Jonghyun.

He reveled in the memories he had with him. They used to meet twice a week in the music academy for their formal music lessons. Jonghyun was a trainee with an established company, working to debut in a boy group. He was learning music and composition so that he could be able to create music for his group in the long-run.

That’s why Dongho didn’t even want to ask Jonghyun to testify in this case. Testifying meant coming out and going public with his sexuality, and such a move could be detrimental to his career. Jonghyun was someone with a good heart, and he would probably do it if Dongho asked him, but Dongho didn’t even want Jonghyun to make that decision.

Dongho remembered how they stayed together after every class, not wanting to leave one another’s company. Dongho had often suggested they go out to eat barbecue and drink beer, but Jonghyun would always rather go down to the bakery across the street and eat his favorite blueberry muffin.

The thought of Jonghyun devouring the pastry made Dongho smile. He missed him.

Before long, he found himself taking the bus toward that bakery. He just wanted to remember Jonghyun and eat the same blueberry muffin again. He thought it would make him feel happier.

When he finally arrived and glanced through the glass exterior of the bakery, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Jonghyun was sitting right there on one of the tables, eating a blueberry muffin, but that wasn’t what caught Dongho off guard.

Across from him sat Minhyun.

Minhyun had his briefcase open in front of him, and he was taking out his notebook and the case file.

That damn lawyer was speaking to Jonghyun despite Dongho having very clearly asked him not to.

Dongho was  _ furious. _

Without thinking, he stormed into the bakery toward where Jonghyun and Minhyun were sitting.

When he caught eyes with Minhyun, the lawyer froze. “Dongho…”

Dongho avoided Jonghyun’s eyes. Instead, he looked straight at Minhyun, his eyes wide with indignation and his nostrils flaring. His fists were balled at his side, and he was ready to throw them in Minhyun’s direction.

“I told you  _ not _ to involve him,” Dongho muttered.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Dongho,” Minhyun said calmly, further enraging Dongho.

“Fuck you!” Dongho sputtered. “I want you  _ off _ this case.”

“Calm down, please,” Minhyun said, standing up and approaching him as if he were some kind of wild animal that needed taming.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Dongho said under his breath. “And I’m calling the law firm and requesting someone else to handle the case. Now get the fuck out of here!”

“Dongho, can we please just have a rational conversation?” Minhyun asked. So  _ condescending. _

“Just get out!” Dongho yelled.

“Dongho…” Jonghyun called out softly, interrupting Dongho’s rage for a brief moment.

Dongho hadn’t even looked in Jonghyun’s direction yet, but upon hearing his name from his lips, he couldn’t help but turn to him, his precious Jonghyun.

“I’m sorry, Jonghyun. I didn’t want you involved in this. This asshole went against my wishes,” Dongho said.

“He’s just doing his job, Dongho. Please stop attacking him like this.”

Dongho was silenced. It hurt to hear the disapproval in Jonghyun’s voice.

Jonghyun turned to Minhyun and said, “with all due respect, Minhyun, but my testimony about Dongho would be that he’s uncommitted and volatile. That’s probably unfair, but this is how I feel right now. I don’t think it will help very much with this child custody case, so please release me from this.”

That hurt  _ so  _ much more.

Minhyun nodded toward Jonghyun, and with that, Jonghyun stood up, bowed, and walked away, leaving Dongho heartbroken and angry.

When Jonghyun was out the door, Minhyun asked Dongho to have a seat.

“I give up,” Dongho said. “Just drop the case. Jonghyun’s right. I’m uncommitted, I have anger issues, and I don’t even have a job to take care of Minki. He should just stay with his mother. I’ll just die.”

“Have a seat, Dongho,” Minhyun said again, more sternly.

“Just leave me alone,” Dongho began to make his way out the door, but Minhyun grabbed his arm before he could.

That lawyer was much stronger than he looked.

“Let’s talk,” Minhyun said, pulling Dongho toward the table and pushing him to sit in Jonghyun’s chair.

Dongho collapsed on the chair, and his eyes trailed down to Jonghyun’s unfinished blueberry muffin on the table. He felt his heart sink even further.

“You’re clearly going through a lot of personal things right now,” Minhyun said, “but you need to put everything aside right now and think about getting back your son.”

“You heard Jonghyun,” Dongho muttered. “I’m a volatile man that doesn’t deserve Minki.”

“Everyone’s volatile when it comes to protecting the people they love, Dongho. You wanted to protect Jonghyun, and that’s why you lashed out right now. I think Jonghyun misunderstood your reaction, and I will clarify it with him. I have his number…”

“ _ Don’t _ involve him,” Dongho warned.

“I won’t involve him in the case,” Minhyun promised. “I only want to make sure he doesn’t misjudge you.”

“And why do you care?” Dongho asked.

“Because I don’t want you to feel like this,” Minhyun said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Dongho narrowed his eyes.

“I may be a robo-lawyer and all, but I’ve been in love too, you know,” Minhyun said when he saw the skepticism in Dongho’s face. “I know that hearing the person you love say bad things about you is… is hard.”

Minhyun was not acting as robotic as he usually was, Dongho noticed. There was a tinge of sympathy in his expression, and it made Dongho feel like Minhyun had experienced similar things before.

“I apologize for speaking with Jonghyun without your consent,” Minhyun continued. “But I just want you to know he was the one who agreed to see me. When I told him about what’s happening to you, he was happy to help. And the first thing he asked me when we met was how you were doing, and if you need money or a place to stay. I told him you needed a job, and he said he would recommend you for a position at his entertainment company. He cares about you a lot, you know. He doesn’t hate you.”

Dongho stared at his lawyer, and marvelled at how he knew exactly what to say to make him feel so much better. It was clear to Dongho that Minhyun understood exactly what he was feeling, and what he needed to hear to undo that suffocating strain in his heart.

_ Jonghyun didn’t hate him. _

“Thank you for telling me,” Dongho said to Minhyun. He averted his eyes, “and I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.”

Minhyun smiled at Dongho and said, “don’t worry about it. I was also wrong for going behind your back. Let’s just put this all behind us and get back to business. About the case...”

The sympathy in Minhyun’s eyes faded away in an instant, and his expression was replaced by that professional poker face Dongho used to find so annoying.

Somehow, Dongho didn’t mind it anymore. On the contrary, he kind of liked it. With the way Dongho cursed him out in public earlier, he imagined that any other lawyer, or any other person for that matter, would have been so offended and cut ties with him immediately. But Minhyun didn’t seem offended at all.

Maybe professionalism wasn’t so bad after all; it meant that feelings were subdued, and feelings were not always good. In a professional relationship, even hard feelings can’t go very far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dont know how i thought this was going to be a one-shot???? anyways sorry for being kinda late with the update. It’s been a busy time :/
> 
> The good news is I have a plan with the next chapter and so it will PROBABLY be faster :)


	3. Chapter 3

Yesterday’s meeting with Dongho triggered a lot of memories, memories Minhyun would much rather forget.

He saw himself in Dongho yesterday. Angry, sad, and hopelessly in love with someone who did not trust him anymore.

He wished he could shake away the memories, but he couldn’t stop them as they replayed in his head as painful reminders of what happened when your personal and professional life clash.

“ _ I hate you!” _ Seungwoo had said.  _ “I can’t believe you did that!” _

Seungwoo and Minhyun went all the way back to middle school. Minhyun had fallen in love with him. In college, they drifted apart, but then encountered one another again in court: Seongwoo as the defendant, and Minhyun as the prosecuting attorney.

Seongwoo had been accused of embezzlement, and Minhyun was the one who prosecuted him.

Thinking about it made him feel numb and nauseous.

He hated his job. He also hated himself.

The flashbacks of that incident consumed his mental and emotional energy, and he could no longer work anymore.

He grunted in frustration. He needed to find another witness now that Jonghyun was out of the picture, but at that point, he was just too numb and tired and depressed to even open the file.

He wondered how Seongwoo was doing. He would have finished serving his sentence two months ago. But was he okay? Was he able to pay what he owed? Was he struggling?

Minhyun had no way of knowing.

He picked up his phone to search his name, but was instead distracted by a text message from Jonghyun.

_ “Hello Minhyun. Sorry about storming out today, but I was just a bit emotional, I hope you understand. If Dongho still needs a job, my company is willing to offer him a temporary position. Just let him call them. Please relay this message to him for me, because I don’t want to talk to him.” _

_ “Thank you for the help, _ ” Minhyun replied. _ “Dongho will be very grateful.” _

_ “Thank you too, for helping him _ .”

_ “Well, you shouldn’t thank me. I’m just doing my job. _ ”

_ “I know, but you seem to be doing it well. Baekho is a good person, and I’m glad he has a good lawyer to support him.” _

_ “Baekho?” _

_ “Oh. Sorry. I meant Dongho. Baekho is a nickname.” _

Minhyun couldn’t help but smile. Yes, “Baekho” really suited Dongho. Majestic, strong, and erratic, ready to pounce on anyone who got in his way.

Minhyun took a screenshot of the conversation with Jonghyun and sent it to Dongho. He had two intentions: the first was to tell Dongho that he had a job offer, and the second was to show him that Jonghyun clearly, obviously, without a single doubt, cared for him. Minhyun knew that Dongho would appreciate seeing proof of that care.

In the miserable time when Minhyun had thought that Seongwoo hated him, he had longed for even the slightest sign that that was not true. Just a smile, or a goodbye, or an ‘it’s okay,’ or even just one glance without malice. It would have given Minhyun just a little bit of light in the darkest moments of his life.

Dongho replied to the screenshot with a “ _ thank you, Minhyun _ .”

Minhyun felt the sincerity of that gratitude.

_ “Glad I could help, _ ” Minhyun replied. He was sincere about that too.

-

Days passed, and Dongho finished all the paperwork and began his new job. He worked in an office and was granted budget to order whatever equipment he needed to create songs.

Dongho loved music, and had always dreamed of working in an entertainment company so he could put his music out there. He had never been able to get that job though, and so had settled for teaching at an academy.

Now, he had a high-paying position as a songwriter at the company Jonghyun was signed to. And the company said they wanted to record one of the songs he had written.

It was unreal.

Dongho marvelled at how quickly things seemed to change. Just a few days ago, he had been in the deepest of pits, feeling lost and hopeless. Now, he had a good job, was getting ahead in the child custody case,  _ and _ there seemed to be hope for him with Jonghyun.

Jonghyun cared about him. He cared about Jonghyun. He was single. He was no longer his teacher. Nothing was holding him back anymore.

Dongho planned ask Jonghyun out on a proper date the next time he saw him, whenever that may be.

He wished he could reach out to Jonghyun directly, but he was nervous about contacting him after Jonghyun made it clear that he didn’t want him to. He didn’t want to overstep and make Jonghyun uncomfortable. He couldn’t even thank him for setting him up with the job.

Instead, he could only thank Minhyun.

If it weren’t for that uptight lawyer and his meddling, this would have never happened. Minhyun was just as much to thank for this as Jonghyun was, and so Dongho felt like he owed him a drink or something.

“ _ Can I buy you a drink? As a thank you?” _ Dongho texted him.

Minhyun replied,  _ “Why don’t you just buy me a coffee when we meet tomorrow? About our meeting, we have to set a court date and get your income statement to present to the judge.” _

That was not the kind of drink that Dongho was going for. He grunted at how quickly Minhyun turned his kind, friendly offer into something work-related, but he didn’t know why he expected anything more from a robo-lawyer.

-

In some strange way, Minhyun was looking forward to meeting Dongho. That was quite uncommon. Usually, client meetings were annoying and tiresome.

Minhyun didn’t understand why this was different for him. It’s not like his past meetings with Dongho have been great. On the contrary, Dongho cursed at him, almost punched him, and called him a robot.

But ever since that incident at the cafe, and the brief text exchange that followed, Minhyun felt more comfortable with him. Maybe it was because he started to see a bit of himself in him.

Minhyun was still trying to figure out whether that was a good thing or not.

Dongho came into the meeting room with a coffee cup in his hands. Minhyun smiled as Dongho placed the cup in front of him.

“Thanks” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Dongho replied, “but I do want to take you out for an  _ actual  _ drink. This doesn’t count.”

“There’s no need for that,” Minhyun replied with a polite smile. He hoped Dongho would just drop it.

“There is.”

Minhyun sighed. “With all due respect Dongho, but I don’t think I should have any kind of personal relationship with my clients outside of work. It’s unprofessional.”

“Fine, what if I say this? Minhyun I want to discuss the case with you at this bar in Gangnam tomorrow night.”

“We can just discuss everything now,” Minhyun shrugged.

“Seriously?”

“Sorry, Dongho. But really, I don’t engage with my clients beyond work. It’s nothing personal.”

“Whatever,” Dongho took a seat in front of him. “Nothing is ever personal with you, is it? But whether you say so or not, you did do me a lot of personal favors, comforting me about Jonghyun and being the middle man between me and Jonghyun with this whole job offer thing.”

Minhyun nodded in agreement. “I may have overstepped my boundaries as a lawyer. I apologize.”

Dongho scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, how dare you make me feel better and help me get a job? What a terrible person,” he said sarcastically.

Minhyun laughed at that, and saw how his laugh made Dongho smile. 

Dongho seemed to be the kind of person that liked to hear people laugh.

“Alright! Let’s get back to the case,” Minhyun said, opening his notes. “I was thinking of setting the court date to March 15…”

“If the court date is on March 15, and it’s all over and I’m no longer your client, would you be willing to go for a drink with me on March 16?” Dongho interrupted.

Minhyun opened his mouth to say no, but then took a moment to reconsider.

“Fine,” he finally said. 

-

It was March 14 when Dongho ran into Jonghyun and finally asked him out, and when Jonghyun rejected him.

“You have a child that you almost lost because of me,” Jonghyun had explained. “And an ex-wife that hates me. And if you’re keeping that child in your life, I can’t be a part of that, okay? I’m sorry, Dongho.”

Needless to say, Dongho was upset when he met with Minhyun later that night for a final practice before the hearing. His head wasn’t in the right place and couldn’t answer any of the questions that Minhyun was asking.

“What’s wrong?” Minhyun asked, crossing his arms.

“Nothing,” Dongho murmured.

“Obviously something’s wrong. Tell me.”

“It’s ‘personal,’ as you would say.”

“Nothing is ‘personal’ when it affects the case and you performance in the hearing,” Minhyun said, crossing his arms and frowning.

“Jonghyun rejected me,” Dongho replied. “He said he didn’t want to be with me if I’m keeping Minki in my life…”

“So, do you want to let go of Minki, then?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you sulking?”

“Because it’s Jonghyun...”

“So what if it’s Jonghyun? It’s not like he’s all that special, Dongho. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with your son, and he’s not even that attractive!”

Dongho narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Minhyun. “What?”

“I’m just saying… he’s not worth being sad over.”

“Jonghyun’s not attractive? Are you blind!?”

“I just meant that… that you can find so much better,” Minhyun replied with a shrug.

Dongho grinned. “What? Are you implying I’m hot?”

“No,” Minhyun said waving his hands in front of him in denial. “I’m just saying, objectively speaking, you have a body that meets the male social standards of beauty and…”

Dongho laughed. “Cut the bullshit, Minhyun. Just say I’m hot and be done with it!”

“That’s… that’s very unprofessional,” he said.

“You know what else is unprofessional? Me saying that you’re one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen. And if you were gay, I would totally ask you out.”

Minhyun blushed, and looked away. “Dongho… stop.”

“Oh, did I make the robo-lawyer blush?”

“Are we ready to move on?” Minhyun asked, changing the subject. “About the hearing tomorrow…”

Dongho smiled, feeling triumphant, and not as sad about Jonghyun as he was before.

-

It has been a long time since Minhyun felt  _ happy _ when he worked. Usually, all the lawyer stuff was boring beyond belief, but with Dongho’s case, it was different. Minhyun enjoyed it, every aspect of it. Even the paperwork, because it meant he was texting with Dongho to get some details from him.

Minhyun liked Dongho, and not just as a client, but as a person. Dongho was funny, he was honest, he was straightforward, and he was… well…  _ hot _ .

It was extremely unprofessional to think of your clients like that, but Minhyun found that these thoughts were inescapable, especially since his meetings with Dongho often took place right after his gym sessions. Dongho would come in wet from his shower, his shirt sticking to his skin, sometimes revealing the tattoos that resided underneath.

“This might be obvious, but in the hearing, you’re planning on wearing a suit and tie right?” Minhyun had asked him the day before.

“Do I have to?”

“Of course you have to!” Minhyun exclaimed. “You can’t look unprofessional or the judge will think you’re a mess. Those tattoos don’t help.” Minhyun pointed at the tattoos showing through his thin, white shirt.

Dongho covered them with his arm. “What’s wrong with tattoos?”

“They’re associated with bad behavior,” Minhyun replied.

“That’s dumb. No offense.”

“I’m not saying I agree with the association,” Minhyun said. “On the contrary, I find tattoos…” he stopped himself from finishing the sentence.

“You find tattoos…?” Dongho beckoned him to finish.

“Nothing.”

“You find them hot, don’t you?” Dongho grinned in triumph.

Minhyun blushed and said, “I was about to say that tattoos are a great form of self-expression and…”

Dongho just burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re funny, Minhyun,” Dongho said, still laughing.

“Can we get back to the case please?” Minhyun tried to look serious and hide how much he enjoyed hearing Dongho laugh.

“Before we do that, can I ask a personal question?”

“No.”

Dongho asked it anyway: “do you have any tattoos?”

“I don’t,” Minhyun answered. “Now, about the case…”

“If you could get one tattoo, what would it be?”

“Dongho, that’s not relevant to the case, is it?”

“It’s not, but I want to know.”

“How about I think about it and answer you on March 16?”

“Oh right! I almost forgot that I have a date with you soon!” Dongho said.

_ Date _ ? Minhyun heard it, and he let it pass. He didn’t stop to correct him and tell him that the term “date” was not proper at all in this context. “Date” implies a relationship hinging on romance; it implies amity beyond what Minhyun was comfortable with. A better term would have been “outing” or “meeting” or even just a casual “hang-out,” but not  _ date _ . That was an incorrect term to use, and could lend way to serious misunderstanding.

But Minhyun chose not to correct him.

He didn’t know why.

-

Dongho liked Minhyun, and not just because he helped him get a job. Minhyun was also effortlessly funny. He was stupidly easy to pick on, plus he was a mystery that Dongho wanted to unravel. The guy was so closed off because he wanted to maintain a “professional relationship,” and Dongho made it his mission to get little personal details about him.

For example, he knew that Minhyun liked tattoos. He knew that Minhyun was in love with someone that hated him. He also knew that Minhyun liked his coffee sweet, and loved anything grape-fruit flavored.

From his satoori, he could tell that Minhyun was from Busan; he reasoned that his family was there and he lived all alone.

There was a lot more he wanted to know, but Minhyun was a tough cookie to crack.

It was part of his charm.

The night before his hearing, Dongho decided to buy Minhyun a gift. It was nothing; just a token of his thanks. Grape-fruit flavored soap and a 100-dollar gift card to this place that does great tattoos.

Perhaps it was too much, gifting Minhyun something that would be permanently inked on his body, but for Dongho, he wanted it to be too much. He kind of wanted Minhyun to always remember him.

March 15 came. It was time for the hearing, and time to finally see his son after over a month of waiting.

He was excited, and he trusted Minhyun to deliver. He trusted Minhyun to get his son back. Minhyun had reassured him and said that all the evidence and the reports were in his favor, so he shouldn’t worry.

He wore formal attire like Minhyun had requested. Suit and tie, with a white shirt with thick fabric in case his tattoo decides to take a peek.

He walked into the court waiting room with full confidence. He looked around, searching for Minhyun.

Instead he caught eyes with his odious ex-wife. She had venom in her eyes, and looked just as confident as he was. He snubbed her, and kept looking around.

No sign of Minhyun.

Instead, Aron approached him, with his case file in his arm.

“Hey dude,” Aron said casually. “I’ll be doing all the lawyer stuff today.”

“Where’s Minhyun?”

“Don’t worry about him, dude,” Aron replied. “I’ll handle the case.”

“But Minhyun is the lawyer on this case…”

“But I’m your official lawyer, not Minhyun. Minhyun just helped out.”

“But he did all the work…”

“He  _ helped _ ,” Aron emphasized.

Dongho balled his fist when he realized what was going on. Aron was taking credit for Minhyun’s work.

He was pissed on Minhyun’s behalf, so pissed he wanted to explode in a fit of yells. Minhyun didn’t spend hours and hours doing all the boring legal shit just for this Aron person to get all the glory. It wasn’t fair.

“Dude, chill,” Aron said when he saw how Dongho tensed up. “I’ll win your case for you. That’s all that should matter to you, right?”

But it wasn’t all that mattered to Dongho. Dongho wanted to win the case, with Minhyun. Not with this random ‘dude’ that read the case file just three hours ago.

He tried to calm down. No use getting angry now, especially minutes before he had to face the judge.

He couldn’t calm down. He was so angry, that he found himself dialling Minhyun’s number.

“ _ Hello? Dongho _ ?” came Minhyun’s voice from behind the speaker.

“What the fuck, Minhyun?”

“ _ Dongho, stop cursing. You’re among court people now. _ ”

“Why aren’t you here?”

“ _ Because Aron’s your lawyer. _ ”

“Since when???”

“ _ Look Dongho, I was just as surprised as you are. Aron came to me just last night and said he would do the hearing, and there was nothing I could do about it. I’m just an associate lawyer; he’s the boss. _ ”

“I wanted  _ you  _ though.”

_ “I’m sorry Dongho. But Aron has won a lot of cases, so you’ll be fine. _ ”

“Yeah, the reason he won is because he takes credit for the work other people have done! This is so unfair to you…”

“ _ The world isn’t fair _ ,” Minhyun murmured in response, and that’s when Dongho realized that Minhyun was just as angry about this as he was.

“Fuck him.”

“ _ Stop cursing _ .”

“I want him to make him lose the case now. Should I curse at the judge? Better yet, curse at my ex-wife?”

“ _ Dongho, don’t be ridiculous. Do you want to see your son or not _ ?”

“Yeah, but…”

“ _ No butts. Just get in there and do a good job, alright _ ?  _ I’ll see you tomorrow. _ ”

“I’m just pissed. I really wanted this to be a win for you.”

“ _ It was a win, Dongho. Working with you on the case was an absolute pleasure and injected some life into my lifeless job. Even if someone else will get all the credit, I’m just happy everything is working out for you. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy _ .”

Dongho went silent. He didn’t know what to say.

“ _ Ummm, I apologize if what I just said was unprofessional _ …”

“Shut up,” Dongho interrupted him before he goes on his rants about professionalism. “And thank you.”

“ _ You’re welcome, Dongho.” _

When the call came to an end, Dongho smiled. He felt calmer now. And happier. Minhyun seemed to have that effect on him.

-

Minhyun was anxiously waiting for the results of the hearing. He didn’t know why he just expected that Dongho would call or text him to tell him what happened.

He was so anxious that he couldn’t do any work that entire day. He was expected to finish this paperwork by the end of today for Aron, but that jerk could wait until tomorrow. 

Yes, Aron took the case back from him just last night, so he got to be the one to go in front of the judge, and he got to be the one who would win the case and reap the glory.

Small wonder he was such a successful lawyer; he was a leech that took credit for other people’s work and jumped on cases that were likely to be won. It was unfair and predatory, and it made Minhyun so mad.

It didn’t matter though, as long as Aron won the case.

Hours passed, and still nothing from Dongho. Anxious, he text Dongho.

_ “Is it over?” _

There was no response.

Minhyun only knew it was over was when Aron returned to the office.

“So… what happened?” Minhyun approached his boss. “Did we win?”

“No,” Aron groaned. “The client got angry and ruined everything. And the other side presented some evidence of domestic abuse, and now the judge called for a second hearing next month. Good luck.” He dropped the case file on Minhyun’s desk and walked away.

-

_ FUCKING BITCH. _

Dongho hated her with every inch of his soul.

She was a compulsive liar and an actress who liked to play the victim, and now she was keeping Minkin away from him for one more month?

He couldn’t help but get angry. He couldn’t help but call her names. He couldn’t help but speak out of line and insult the judge for taking her seriously, and also Aron who just kept saying meaningless shit about how he showed Minki “a lot of love and support.”

_ “You’re lucky the judge called for another hearing and didn’t just give your ex-wife full custody. What you did was dumb, Dongho,”  _ Minhyun texted. Aron probably briefed Minhyun on what happened.

Dongho ignored him. He didn’t feel like talking to him right now.

He hated that it ended up like this. He felt like he let Minhyun down. Like he let Minki down. Like he let himself down.

“ _ For the next month, I’m enrolling you in an anger management course,”  _ Minhyun texted. “ _ And we have to meet to discuss the evidence she has against you.” _

Dongho wished Minhyun would just shut up about the case already. He didn’t need all this lawyer talk right now. His heart was burning with anger and disappointment and all he needed was for someone to calm him down.

_ “How did go? Did you win?” _ came another text message. This time, it was from Jonghyun.

_ “I didn’t. And now I really need to talk to someone…” _

It didn’t take long before Jonghyun appeared at his door, ready to listen, ready to console.

Dongho ranted and raved about his ex-wife, about the injustice, about how much he missed Minki and how unfair this was.

Jonghyun consoled him by holding his hand, rubbing his shoulders, and kissing his lips.

That was not the kind of comfort that Dongho had been seeking, but he took it. He wished he were in the right headspace for it, but he wasn’t; as much as he loved Jonghyun, he loved Minki more, and the prospect of losing him took a toll on his energies, and he couldn’t reciprocate the love that Jonghyun was giving him.

Perhaps Jonghyun thought he could compensate.

“I miss my son,” Dongho told Jonghyun after they parted from their kiss. The mention of Minki seemed to bother Jonghyun.

“Don’t you miss me as well?” Jonghyun asked caressing Dongho’s cheek.

Dongho couldn’t stand how Jonghyun was making this about their relationship. It rubbed him in all the wrong ways and made him feel sick.

“I can’t think about that right now, Jonghyun. I’m sorry, but I really need to deal with this by myself right now.”

Jonghyun nodded and left, leaving Dongho alone with nothing but his thoughts, and a mass of text messages from his lawyer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly guys idk when this became this monstrosity like i just glanced at the page count and gasped  
> also again idk how lawyer/custudy stuff works im just guessing im probably wayyyyy off lol


	4. Chapter 4

Needless to say, the March 16 date was cancelled and instead was replaced by an urgent meeting to review the evidence against Dongho.

The evidence comprised of photos of bruises on her arms and legs, which she claimed Dongho had inflicted many months ago because he was “angry” with her for not setting the table for him.

For Minhyun, that was  _ obviously  _ a lie. Dongho had a short temper, but he wouldn’t  _ abuse  _ anyone.

Minhyun didn’t have any evidence to support that belief, he just felt it in his heart.

Minhyun scolded himself, realizing that his personal feelings were clouding his reasoning again.

When Dongho entered the meeting room that day, he looked somber, tired, and jaded. He was not smiling like usual, and there wasn’t that cheerful light in his eyes that Minhyun had come to recognize. More importantly, he came in a T-shirt that wasn’t clinging to his chest, which told Minhyun that Dongho had skipped the gym for today.

That meant something was definitely wrong with him.

Minhyun skipped all the formalities, and went straight to business: “here’s the situation Dongho: she made an accusation that she cannot prove, but it’s still an accusation that will be in the judge’s head, further substantiated by how you reacted in court. But here’s the silver lining: that accusation, legally, can  _ not _ have any bearing on the case, because there is not enough evidence to charge you for it. She did, however, give us a chance to charge her with lying in court, and…” Minhyun trailed off; he could tell that Dongho wasn’t listening. His mind was somewhere else.

“Dongho,” Minhyun called out, snapping him out of whatever trance he was in.

Dongho lifted his head.

“Do you want to have this meeting later?”

Dongho just shook his head.

“We’re going to win this Dongho. You can count on me, okay? Now, I can tell that you’re tired and can’t concentrate right now, so we can meet sometime next week instead…”

“Can you just… stop?” Dongho finally spoke, muttering under his breath.

“Stop… what?”

“Stop reducing this whole thing to some legal battle!” he yelled. “Stop pretending that we might still win, because I think we already lost. I can’t see my Minki for another month!!! We  _ lost. _ ”

Minhyun fell silent, and waited for Dongho to yell and let out his frustrations.

“This is so unfair!” Dongho continued to yell. “And the judge was taking her seriously! What the hell was that? They gave her a platform to spread her lies! And the fact Aron was there and not you… what the  _ hell _ ? This whole system is fucked up. She should be in jail! She should be locked up for the rest of her life!!! She shouldn’t be taking care of  _ my son _ !”

When Dongho stopped yelling, Minhyun cleared his throat and said: “you’re right, she shouldn’t be taking care of your son.” Hesitantly, he carried on to say: “To translate that into legal language, it means you want full custody of Minki, correct?”

Dongho narrowed his eyes at Minhyun.

“Let’s make a case for full custody, Dongho. It’s a risky move, and it’s going to be difficult, but I think I can do it.”

“Really?” Dongho asked, his voice hushed and hesitant.

“If that’s what you want.”

“More than anything else in the world.”

“Alright then. Just count on me.”

-

Full custody.

Who knew that legal words could sound so  _ wonderful _ ?

The thought of having Minki with him, in his home, everyday… the thought that his ex-wife would be out of the picture, out of his life forever… Dongho was overjoyed at the prospect.

He was hopeful, happily counting on Minhyun to make this happen for him.

This dumb lawyer always seemed to find the perfect ways to lift Dongho from his slumps. From the incident with Jonghyun, to this full custody thing, it was like Minhyun was this guardian angel sent from God to set everything right.

Without further ado, Dongho began doing his part. He scrolled through years of chat history, noted possible people who could provide testimonies, and thought about some kind of alibi to the domestic violence accusation.

All throughout that process, Minhyun was also working. He would send Dongho messages, explaining a bunch of legal things to him, and asking Dongho to provide evidence that would give them an advantage in court.

Minhyun was working very hard for this, and Dongho appreciated that so much. Maybe Minhyun did care after all, Dongho thought. Or maybe this was just really good client servicing. Whatever it was, Dongho felt like he owed Minhyun so much more than just legal fees and a drink when all this is over.

At one point, Minhyun would send him messages every two or three minutes, and so Dongho suggested that they work in the same place, for efficiency. Minhyun agreed.

They agreed to meet in Dongho’s house after they both got off work. At first, Minhyun had been reluctant; it was apparently extremely “unprofessional” to work in a client’s private space. Dongho would not hear any of it, and Minhyun relented.

Dongho’s home was quite the mess, and he didn’t have much time to fix it up when he got home after work before Minhyun arrived. He was living in a small studio; it was the only thing he could afford after his wife took his house and left him stranded with nowhere to live. Until now, he hadn’t unpacked his moving boxes, and almost everything was misplaced.

Minhyun arrived carrying a lot of things as well: a bag filled with books, a laptop bag, and his briefcase with the case file.

When Minhyun arrived at the door, Dongho took the bag of books from him to help him carry it. It was much heavier than he expected.

“What’s all this?” Dongho asked, squirming as he struggled to carry it towards the dining table Dongho had cleared for Minhyun to work in.

“Law books,” Minhyun answered. “If we’re going to win this, I’ll need to know a lot more than I do.”

As he was speaking, Minhyun inspected Dongho’s home. He didn’t seem pleased.

Dongho chuckled at his expression. Somehow, he knew that Minhyun would be the type to shudder at untidy spaces. It was just such a Minhyun thing to do.

“I get distracted by messes,” Minhyun said. “Could we just spend maybe five minutes clearing things up?”

“If it helps me get my son back, I’ll do whatever you want,” Dongho said, and immediately began picking up empty bottles and from the floor.

Minhyun put down the rest of his stuff and started to help. Dongho stopped working just to watch him, enjoying the sight of Minhyun cleaning; he was just as focused and as stone-faced as when he was doing all the legal work. It was… well…  _ cute _ .

Within ten minutes, the space looked significantly better, clearer, and Minhyun went back to his workstation to start.

Dongho watched as Minhyun took out the law books, one by one, and piled them beside him on the table. There were four books, each of which was a thick as a cinderblock. They all had boring covers, and even more boring titles.

The one Minhyun was reading was called  _ The Law of Global Custody _ . It was huge and when Minhyun opened it, Dongho saw that the type was very small. Minhyun opened the book just a few pages in, barely a tenth into the book. In the first tenth, Minhyun had various page markers and sticky notes.

“Are you reading that whole thing?” Dongho asked him.

Minhyun hummed in response, eyes focused on his page.

“Why?”

Minhyun tore his eyes from the page and looked at Dongho. “90% of the time, parents get joint custody in court. So fighting for sole custody, the odds are against us, and even more so now considering your record and what happened in the last court date. That’s why we have to work harder and make a much stronger case. That involves going into all the legal details. One little detail in these big books could very well be the reason we win. That’s why I’m reading them.” As soon as he explained, he went back to reading, and Dongho didn’t disturb him.

-

Minhyun was tired. He had been reading this book for hours, and his head hurt. Plus the chair he was sitting on was quite uncomfortable, clearly not meant for long hours of work.

Minhyun was sitting in Dongho’s eating table. The chair was wooden, no cushions, and to low for his long legs. There was no proper desk or workspace in Dongho’s studio, but Minhyun didn’t really mind. Even though it was uncomfortable, it was good to be with Dongho throughout this research. It helped move the work along.

A part of him was a bit wary of the situation: being in a client’s personal home, drinking his coffee, and using his bathroom. Lawyers weren’t supposed to get this comfortable with their clients. Lawyers were also not expected to work so much either.

For the past few days, Minhyun had focused his full attention on this case. That meant neglecting all his other work, working long after hours, and getting a bit closer to the client than he would have liked.

Dongho didn’t seem to mind it. On the contrary, he seemed extremely comfortable. He even left Minhyun in his own home to go to the gym.

“Sorry to do this to you, but I’m gonna head out for an hour or two for a quick workout,” Dongho told him. “There’s food and drinks in the fridge, help yourself. If you get bored, I’ve got video games and Netflix. So yeah, feel free to do whatever you want. Oh and in case you wanna leave, the combination come back in is...”

It was then that Minhyun really started to feel the seriousness of the issue. There was way too much trust, way too much friendliness, way too much comfort…

He tried to tell himself that this was just a special case. He had to do all this extra work, and being in Dongho’s home was just a way to make things easier. It was purely professional, he thought.

But in the back of his mind, he knew that he didn’t  _ have to _ do all this work. He didn’t have to make a case for sole custody. He was doing it all for Dongho, because he wanted to make Dongho happy.

Minhyun shook those thoughts away. He didn’t have the luxury of wasting his brain power on meaningless thoughts. He needed to finish reading these dumb books.

He continued reading and researching and thinking and writing, and had an idea that he had to reconsider a thousand times, an idea that could help them win the case...

While Minhyun was grappling with the idea, Dongho had come back from his gym session. He came carrying a leather desk chair.

“What’s this?” Minhyun asked as Dongho placed the chair beside Minhyun.

“A chair,” he said. “Take it.”

“Did you just buy this?” Minhyun said, noting the price tag still attached to it.

“Yeah, for you,” Dongho said. “Now sit.”

Minhyun smiled. “You didn’t have to buy this just for me,” he said.

“I did actually. It’s the least I can do for you right now to help make this easier for you,” Dongho replied with a shrug. “So yeah, here you go.”

Minhyun got up from the uncomfortable wooden chair and took a seat on the new chair, which was soft and large enough to support his back. Already his tight muscles had started to loosen as he sat back. It was a simple comfort, but it meant a lot.

“Thank you, Dongho,” Minhyun said, looking toward his client with fondness that he tried very hard to suppress. Dongho, with his kindness, his consideration, in his tight white wet t-shirt that Minhyun liked a lot more than he would like to admit.

Dongho just laughed at Minhyun’s thanks.

“What’s funny?”

“That you’re thanking  _ me _ , when you’re the one working after hours for me. You don’t have to do that, but here you are.”

“Well, I like to do the best I can for my clients,” Minhyun said.

“Do you work after hours for all your clients?” Dongho asked.

The answer was no, but Minhyun said yes anyways.

-

Days passed, and Minhyun came to Dongho’s home every single day after work, staying up until midnight, working the big chair that Dongho had bought him.

It was an expensive chair, but for Dongho, it was it was money well-spent, if it was making the work that Minhyun was doing just a little less arduous.

Dongho helped when he could. He would look for evidence Minhyun asked for, buy Minhyun food, make him coffee, get him more sticky notes when his first batch ran out, and running out to print things that he needed.

Dongho had been cooking something for Minhyun when his phone rang with an unfamiliar number.

He picked up, and heard the voice of someone he didn’t expect at all: his ex-wife.

“ _ Dongho, it’s me.” _

“What do you want?” Dongho asked.

_ “Do you want to meet Minki?” _

Dongho paused.  _ “What? Why?” _

_ “He’s been crying a lot. He wants to see you, and I don’t have the heart to say no anymore. You can come see him. For one hour only,”  _ she said coldly.

Dongho eyes lit with happiness, and his heart began to beat hard with anticipation. “Really?” he asked. He felt like he wanted to cry.

There was nothing he wanted more than to see Minki again. It has been months without the sight of Minki’s happy face, the sound of Minki’s sweet laugh, the scent of Minki’s hair, and the warmth of Minki’s hugs and kisses.

“ _ Come meet me at the cafe under our home. I’ll be waiting there with Minki. Don’t be late.” _ With that, she closed the line, and Dongho shot for the door.

As he was putting on his shoes, Minhyun asked. “Where are you going?”

“To see Minki!” Dongho answered with a wide, happy grin on his face.

“What?”

“She just called and told me that I could see him for an hour!”

“Dongho, no! Did you forget she has a restraining order against you?”

“Yeah but, she allowed me…”

“That’s not how it works! Dongho, I’m sorry to say this, but she may be setting a trap to use against you!”

Dongho’s face fell. It couldn’t be true, right?

“Do you have evidence that she’s allowing you to see Minki and meet her?”

“Well, she called me…”

“From her number?”

Dongho narrowed his eyes, and the realization hit him like a slap in the face. It was not her own number; it was a strange number. If she charged him with violating the restraining order, he would have no evidence to support that she reached out to allow him to do so.

“Fuck,” Dongho mumbled under his breath, throwing the shoe that he was about to wear hard on the floor and collapsing against the door, running his fingers through his hair.

He hated her.

He hated her even more now, for giving him hope and playing with his feelings, only to use it against him.

He hated that there was no way he could see Minki now.

“Dongho,” Minhyun got up from his chair and knelt down beside him. “I’m sorry.”

“I hate her, Minhyun,” Dongho said, and it was only when he spoke that he realized he was crying. “You’re going to kick her out of my life, right?”

Minhyun reached out and took Dongho’s hand. “You can count on me.”

Dongho buried his face in his knees, embarrassed and upset that Minhyun saw him in such a state. It was awkwardly silent for many seconds after, until Minhyun let go Dongho’s hand, let out a deep breath, and said: “Maybe we can do something about this to help our case,” Minhyun suggested.

“What?”

“Well, I’ve had this idea for a while now...” Minhyun said, reluctantly, as if he still wasn’t sure whether it was the right thing to do. “Before anything else, let’s call that number again and record the phone call to get evidence that she asked to meet you.”

“And then what?” Dongho asked. “Can I go see Minki?”

“No,” Minhyun replied. “But I can.”

-

This was wrong on so many levels.

Minhyun made his way down to the cafe where Dongho’s ex-wife would be waiting for him. When he was outside the cafe, he began taking the video. He entered the cafe and spotted her sitting in the corner. He had never met her, but he recognized her from all the evidence and pictures he had seen of her while working on the case.

Minki was not with her, which was further evidence that she was leading Dongho into a trap. He subtly recorded her with his phone and quietly bought something from the cafe.

He then took a deep breath, reconsidered the plan one last time, and then approached her. His phone was still recording everything.

“Hi,” he greeted her with a polite smile.

“Hello,” she responded. She looked anxious, but softened when she saw his face.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but notice you sitting here by yourself. You’re very pretty,” he said.

She blushed and smiled at him.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

She hesitated to answer that, and then said, “yes actually. My ex.”

“Oh,” Minhyun feigned surprise. “Who is the idiot who let go of you?”

She blushed again.

And so it began. Minhyun sat in front of her, introduced himself, spoke with her, flirted with her, used his saccharine tongue to lull her into trusting him, into believing that he was interested in her.

It was always easy for him. With such a nice way of speaking and an attractive face, women easily fell for his charms. This woman was no exception.

He also knew a lot about her from Dongho: the idol group she was a fan of, the kind of things she liked to talk about, and the things that made her happy. She liked when people smiled, and so Minhyun smiled. She liked when people mentioned God, and so he mentioned God. She liked being touched, and so he reached out and took her hand when it felt natural enough.

She opened up to him eventually.

“The guy who I was supposed to meet, my ex, we’re fighting for custody,” she told him. “I’ve been really stressed about that lately. I want to have full custody, because my ex isn’t a good person.”

“Why are you meeting him then?” Minhyun asked her, praying she would fall into the trap.

“I’m trying to… to get him in trouble.”

_ Bingo. _

“In trouble?”

“I have a restraining order against him,” she explained, “and I want him to break that so the judge knows that he’s not a suitable father.”

“He must have done some pretty awful things for you to go out of your way to get him in trouble.”

“He has.”

“If I may ask… what has he done?”

“That’s third-date kind of talk,” she said, blushing.

He smiled at her, and held her hand.

“Let’s leave this place. I know it’s tempting to trick him like this, but I say avoid these underhanded methods, and just leave it in God’s hands. He will do what is just.”

She smiled at the mention of God again, and held his hand tighter.

It was working so well.

Minhyun pulled her up from the table, and she allowed herself to be led by him.

What followed was hours of conversation and laughter. Minhyun phone was still recording everything.

Minhyun told her his real name, and that he was a lawyer, just so that what he was doing would not be considered legally shady. This was perfectly legal. It was immoral, but still legal.

When she invited him into her home, Minhyun realized that this was progressing a lot quicker than he expected.

He accepted the invitation and met Minki for the very first time there. Minki had his father’s refreshing smile. He was a sassy little boy with big eyes and beautiful long hair that he didn’t let his mother cut. He loved to sing, and always laughed. Minhyun loved him.

After hours of faking affection and care for the mother, it was nice to be with Minki, and genuinely smile and laugh with him.

Minhyun could understand why Dongho missed him.

Minhyun was tempted to ask Minki about his father, just to hear what Minki had to say, and if it was something good, he wanted to let Dongho listen to the recording later and watch his reaction. But his mother was right there, and Minhyun couldn’t risk anything.

Minhyun played with Minki for a while, until his mother decided that it was his bedtime.

“Stay,” she requested from Minhyun. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

He nodded. “I’ll wait.”

After the brief wait, in which Minhyun recollected himself and prepared to carry out the most important part of the plan, she returned and took a seat beside Minhyun on the sofa.

“You’re so good with kids,” she told him. “Minki really liked you.”

“Well, he’s a wonderful boy.”

“He is,” she said. “I’m just afraid he’s  _ too  _ influenced by his father.”

“In what way?” Minhyun asked.

“Well, Minki loves music and singing, like his dad. And he also acts so feminine…”

“Is his dad feminine?”

“Not exactly. His dad is… well…  _ gay _ ,” she said the last word with some disgust.

“And you don’t like Minki being feminine, because you’re afraid it might mean he’s gay?”

“Yeah… I guess.”

Already, Minhyun was thinking about how he was going to frame this as evidence against her: she was an unsuitable mother that was isolating her son from his father and trying to control his personality, from such a young age.

Minhyun pretended to agree with her “inhibitions” about “gay people,” and pretended he didn’t find her an irrirtating bigot.

When the timing was right, he leaned in to kiss her lips, much to the sick feeling in his stomach. She did not seem to notice his repugnance, for she accepted the kiss happily and pulled him closer.

He wanted to end the intimacy immediately, so he pulled back and tugged on her shirt, praying she would just let him take it off.

She let him.

_ Finally _ .

The marks on her arms, the marks she used to accuse Dongho of domestic abuse, were still there in faded shades of pink on her arms.

“What is that on your arm?” he asked her, lightly caressing the bruises.

“That’s nothing,” she answered him. “I injured myself doing pilates…”

_ Bingo. _

“You do pilates?” Minhyun interrogated as she began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

“Yeah,” she grinned seductively, as if she thought that her doing pilates excited him.

“Where do you do it?” he asked.

“This gym in Jongdo,” she shrugged. “I can show you right here, if you want…”

At that point, Minhyun had all the evidence and information he planned to get. He needed nothing more from her, and only wanted to get away.

She leaned in closer, and he pulled himself back.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I… I don’t want to do this anymore,” Minhyun said standing up and buttoning his shirt again, avoiding her eyes.

“Why?”

“I… I like someone else,” he told her.

Her mouth hung open. She looked angry and betrayed, but before she had a chance to say anything, Minhyun fled out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i reiterate: I have no clue how legal stuff works! i probably completely butchered child custody legal procedures and the entire profession. if there are any lawyers reading this, I sincerely apologize lol
> 
> anyways thanks for all the comments and kudos! really means a lot.


	5. Chapter 5

Dongho had been waiting anxiously for Minhyun to return when he received a text message from him: “ _ Hey Dongho. I went home. Everything went according to plan. I’ll talk to you about it later.” _

He was impatient; he couldn’t wait until ‘later’ to hear exactly what happened and exactly how far Minhyun had to go.

Honestly, Dongho had not liked the idea  _ at all _ when he heard it from Minhyun the first time. “I’m going to pretend to be interested in your wife, and get her to tell me the  _ real _ cause of the bruises on her body, and record it to use as evidence against her.”

That was all Minhyun had said, and then he just left. He didn’t give Dongho much time to raise his concerns or ask any questions, but just thinking about Minhyun talking to that bitch made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Now, Minhyun had gone home, leaving him in the dark again.

“ _ Your stuff is still here, don’t you need them tomorrow for work?”  _ Dongho texted back, desperately salvaging for some excuse to see Minhyun as soon as possible.

“ _ Oh, right. I forgot about that. I’ll pass by tomorrow morning.” _

_ “I can come drop them off for you, if you want?” _

Dongho didn’t expect that Minhyun would let him, given how “unprofessional” it was for a client to go to his lawyer’s private home, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Minhyun replied by sending Dongho his location and address, much to Dongho’s pleasant surprise. He did not spare a single minute to gather everything that Minhyun had left in his apartment, and rush to where Minhyun lived.

Minhyun resided in a fancier neighborhood, in one of the tall buildings with glassy exteriors, glistening chandeliers, and high-tech gadgets in every corner. Dongho felt out of place as he entered the building in a t-shirt and shorts and made his way across the marble floors to Minhyun’s door.

When Minhyun opened the door to welcome Dongho inside, Dongho had to take a second to just  _ look _ at Minhyun, who seemed almost like a different person now. He had wet hair, and was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. It was not the suit-clad, high-shouldered Minhyun that Dongho was used to.

“Sorry about… this,” Minhyun said pointing at his attire. “It’s very…”

“Unprofessional,” they both said at the same time. Dongho was happy when Minhyun laughed.

Dongho held out the things that Minhyun had left behind, and Minhyun accepted them with a polite bow.

“Why don’t you come in for a bit?” Minhyun said, probably only to be polite; he didn’t think that Minhyun would actually want him to come in. Nonetheless, Dongho accepted the invitation and stepped into Minhyun’s perfectly clean and lavender-smelling home.

Minhyun invited Dongho to take a seat on the sofa beside him, and took out his phone to play the recording for him.

And that’s how Dongho heard everything. Minhyun’s flirting, his ex-wife’s flirting, Minki, all the touching, the kissing, and the end of the recording where she admitted that her bruises were, of course, not the result of ‘domestic violence’ like she claimed, but a result of pilates injuries.

Dongho sat with his eyes on the floor and his jaw hanging open. He was surprised; he didn’t know what he expected when he started listening to this, but he certainly did not expect Minhyun to go these lengths to secure fool-proof evidence to clear his name.

This was way beyond Minhyun’s job as a lawyer.

Dongho felt extremely uncomfortable all of the sudden. Maybe it was because he knew there was nothing he could do to match this service. Maybe it was imagining Minhyun and his ex-wife being intimate. Or maybe it was his conscience doubting the ethical permissibility of doing this to her, even if she was a bitch. Maybe it was also his concern that Minhyun would get in trouble for this. It certainly didn’t seem like something a lawyer would be allowed to do.

Minhyun looked even more uncomfortable. He had his arms around his chest and looked blank, as if he were deeply disturbed by the whole experience.

Seeing Minhyun like this made Dongho feel worse. He couldn’t even get excited about what this meant for him: his wife would be exposed as a lying bitch, and definitely would not win the custody battle. But if the cost was Minhyun looking like  _ that _ , then Dongho wasn’t sure if it was worth it.

“Are you okay?” Dongho asked him, wanting to wipe that expression from Minhyun’s face. Even stone-faced, robo-lawyer Minhyun was better than  _ this _ .

Minhyun forced a weak smile and shrugged.

“Was it her? Was she that bothersome?”

“It’s not… it’s not that,” Minhyun shook his head. He didn’t say anything more, and Dongho knew that he would have to keep asking questions if he was to get anything out of him.

“What is it then?” Dongho pushed.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me,” Dongho insisted.

Minhyun sighed and said: “it’s just that this experience is reminding me of another case I handled before. The memories are... umm... unpleasant.”

“So... you’ve done something like this before?”

“Yeah… I guess. Or not,” Minhyun shrugged, indicating he didn’t want to talk about it.

Dongho continued asking questions, eager to know more so that he can find some way, however small, to make this better for him. “Was it unpleasant because you got in trouble?” Dongho asked.

Minhyun didn’t answer the question. He looked deep in thought, as if he were watching a tape of those unknowable memories within his own head.

“What happened, Minhyun?” Dongho asked again. “You can tell me. I only want to help.”

“It’s nothing you can help with. It’s personal,” Minhyun replied with a shrug.

Dongho got the message, and didn’t push any farther. Still, he felt shut down and upset. After everything, Minhyun was still building walls between them and shutting down all possibilities for friendship. It was too tiring to counter.

When Dongho didn’t say anything, there lingered an uncomfortable silence between them for a moment. Within that moment, Minhyun must have noticed that Dongho was upset, because he didn’t let the silence last.

“I was assigned a case where I had to prosecute someone I was in love with,” Minhyun explained briefly. “While I was working on the case, I embraced a relationship with that person, which is why being intimate with your ex-wife reminded me of that time.”

Dongho was happy to have gotten that much out of him at least, so he didn’t push or ask any more questions. Instead, he decided to spin this into a joke, to lighten the tension a little, and to perhaps hear Minhyun laugh. “Well, at least this time you aren’t in love with my ex-wife!”

Minhyun did laugh a little, but not enough to crack the tension.

“And that woman must be something special if she shook robo-lawyer Hwang Minhyun’s conviction to separate personal and professional!”

“Yes,  _ he _ was special,” Minhyun replied, emphasizing  _ he. _

“Huh?”

“It was a guy,” Minhyun stated. “I was in love with a guy.”

“Oh,” Dongho said, eyes wide with surprise. “You’re…?”

“Yeah,” Minhyun said. “I am.”

That changed everything.

The whole lens through which Dongho perceived and understood Minhyun was suddenly shifted. It took a while to process, because Dongho had to stop for a moment and reconfigure everything he knew about his lawyer in light of this new information.

“You look surprised,” Minhyun said.

“I am. You always struck me as this pedantic guy who would never go against the wave,” Dongho thought out loud. “Like… I thought you’d be the type to conform to what’s normal and socially acceptable, even at the expense of your own desires.”

Minhyun shrugged. “I guess you don’t know me well enough, then.”

“I don’t, but I’m learning more and more everyday,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Minhyun, as if he were some puzzle that Dongho had yet to figure out.

That was his charm, Dongho thought. He was shrouded in mystery and filled with surprises. It was like watching a TV show packed with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, and you’re always eager to watch more and more. It’s the kind of show you end up binging, because if you don’t, it stays on your mind all day and drives you crazy with curiosity.

For Dongho, Hwang Minhyun was that kind of show, but he was not someone that Dongho could “binge.” He had to wait for Minhyun to reveal parts of himself in tiny little increments that Dongho cherished a lot more than he should.

Dongho wanted to consume everything about Minhyun, and wished Minhyun would let him.

“Anyways, about the recording, I’m going to present it as evidence to the judge in the next hearing,” Minhyun stated, clearly trying to veer away from the personal nature of their conversation. “I’ll need your help editing out the parts that don’t matter. I’ll also be looking into the gyms in Gangnam to find your ex-wife’s pilates instructor and ask her to provide testimony, and we can then charge her with perjury. In the meantime, I’ll continue reading the books to give you even more of an edge, and soon, you can finally see Minki.”

That was what this was all about: Minki. Dongho felt guilty for forgetting that for a moment, too distracted by Hwang Minhyun to think about what this meant for him and his son.

Dongho wanted to stop thinking about Minhyun for one second and focus on what really mattered, namely Minki and taking down his ex-wife, but his mind was uncontrollably fixated on the tall attractive lawyer that was making it all happen. He had never been so fixated on someone else since… well, since Jonghyun.

No, no. It wasn’t  _ that _ kind of fixation, Dongho told himself. Dongho was just grateful, that’s all.

He then realized that he hadn’t even properly thanked Minhyun yet: “Thank you for doing all of this,” he said. “But I need to know, before we even think about using the recording, are lawyers allowed to do something like this?”

“Well, a lawyer is not allowed to speak to the opposing client directly if the opposing lawyer is also not present. It’s lawyer code of conduct, and a violation could get a lawyer’s license revoked,” Minhyun informed him.

“Then why the fuck did you do it? If it’s going to get you in trouble, we’re not using it!”

“I’m not going to get in trouble though,” Minhyun said, calmly, confidently. “I’m  _ not _ your lawyer, remember? Aron is. His name is on all the official records, not mine. And I told her my real name and profession, so I wasn’t impersonating anyone. I just  _ pretended  _ to be interested in her. It’s not very nice, but it’s also not illegal.”

Dongho blinked, confused. “So… if you’re not my lawyer, then what does that make you?”

The question seemed to stump Minhyun a little bit, because it took him a few seconds to come up with the right answer. “I… I didn’t do this as your lawyer,” Minhyun said with reluctance, fiddling with his fingers. “I did this as your  _ friend _ .”

The statement caught Dongho off guard.

_ Friend? _

Dongho smiled.

He wanted to make a comment or crack a joke about how he was finally out of the client-zone, but he didn’t want to risk making Minhyun uncomfortable.

_ Friend. _

Minhyun kept his head down and didn’t look up at him to see the smile on Dongho’s face. Dongho realized that he was now seeing yet another new side of Minhyun: the shy and blushy side, very different from the upright robo-lawyer confidence he was used to.

“Why are you acting like this?” Dongho asked, chuckling. “It’s not like you confessed your love to me or anything!” Dongho reached out for Minhyun’s lowered chin and lifted his head up to face him.

Dongho didn’t let go of Minhyun’s chin, even when Minhyun held his head up and faced him. It just didn’t feel right to let go, especially with Minhyun looking at him like  _ that _ .

It was the kind of look that made Dongho lose himself in Minhyun’s eyes, a look that spurred in him this overwhelming desire to be physically closer to him.

Initially, it was self-restraint and respect for boundaries that stopped Dongho from caving into that desire. Instead, he satiated the sudden longing for proximity by gently caressing Minhyun’s chin as he pulled his hand back.

But when Minhyun slightly leaned into Dongho’s touch, Dongho threw self-restraint to the wind.

He swiftly closed the distance between their lips and kissed him, gently, slowly, as if he were afraid that he read all the signs wrong and Minhyun would hate him for this.

But Minhyun didn’t move back or flinch. He let Dongho kiss him once, twice, three times, before finally kissing him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: omg it was so hard to write this chapter i hope you all like it though
> 
> also ive been writing another fic for another fandom that i have not updated in like a month because I've been focused on this one so i hope you dont mind if i take a little break from this to update the other one. idk how long it will take but maybe like 2/3 weeks? Thank you for understanding and im sorryy


	6. Chapter 6

It had been too long since Minhyun had kissed someone like this, since Seungwoo actually.

Minhyun had thought that his heart was irredeemably broken, and that he would never be able to feel these butterflies in his stomach again. But with Dongho, those butterflies were suddenly re-awakened, and Minhyun felt so _good_.

He tried to just indulge in that feeling, but he could not suppress the voice in his head that was yelling at him to stop.

This was his _client_.

This was wrong in so many ways. Not only was Dongho his client, but he was also in love with Kim Jonghyun.

As hard as it was, Minhyun pulled himself back slightly to bring their kiss to an end.

Their lips were just centimeters apart, hovering there for a second before Minhyun gathered the conviction to say: “We shouldn’t.”

Dongho pulled himself back all the way and just stared at Minhyun, as if he were perceiving him for the first time. There was sparkling wonder and curiosity in his eyes. “Why not?” he finally asked.

There were many reasons, but Minhyun decided to go for the reason that Dongho would accept: “You have Jonghyun.”

The mention of Jonghyun seemed to extinguish the sparkle in Dongho’s eyes just a little. Now, he looked guilty and confused.

“I… I’m sorry,” Minhyun told him, looking to the floor in regret.

“No, no. It’s my fault. And you’re right. I have Jonghyun.” He sat back, as if to increase the distance between them, and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

There was an awkward tension, and Minhyun tried to think of something professional to say to bring it back to normal, but everything seemed inappropriate at this point.

“I’ll just… leave,” Dongho finally said, standing up and heading for the door.

Minhyun didn’t stop him, and watched as Dongho rushed out.

When he was gone, Minhyun felt strangely empty, distressed by the lack of resolution he was left with. It didn’t help that the flutter in his stomach had no subsided, even when Dongho was gone.

Minhyun wanted _more_.

He wanted Dongho to come back through that door and kiss him again, and this time, with no reluctance or hesitation. He wanted them to throw caution and propriety to the wind and just indulge in the intimacy he craved.

Minhyun went to sleep that night with thoughts of Dongho on his mind and body.

-

It was never good to leave things hanging, and Dongho’s relationship with Jonghyun was one of those things.

Last time he saw Jonghyun about a week ago, they kissed, but Dongho had been so out of it and asked Jonghyun to leave. Neither contacted the other after that. Were they together? Were they apart? Dongho didn’t _know_ , and that’s what was driving him crazy.

He just wanted to make sure he didn’t just cheat on someone he loved with his hot lawyer.

Dongho hated himself right now, and more so now because he could not shake the thought of Minhyun from his head.

His conscience was telling him that these feelings for Minhyun, whatever they were, warranted a clean cut from Jonghyun, but the thought of that broke his heart. And he didn’t want to cut from Jonghyun, because as much as he liked Minhyun, Jonghyun was the person Dongho loved.

 _Can we talk?_ Dongho texted Jonghyun that morning at work. _Let’s meet for coffee and blueberry muffins_?

_Ok._

They met later that day. Jonghyun came through the cafe door in an oversized hoodie with his hands in his pockets. His face looked so small and so cute, that sweet, subtle smile on the edge of his lips. He looked happy to see Dongho, and Dongho was happy to see him too.

“I missed you,” Dongho told him.

Jonghyun smiled and took the seat in front of him. “What did you want to talk about?”

Dongho dove right in: “I need to know: are we together?”

“That’s a complicated question.”

“I don’t do complicated, Jonghyun. It’s either a yes or a no. I need to know.”

“Why all of the sudden? You had a week to call me. I was starting to think you didn’t care.”

“Because…” Dongho trailed off. _Because I kissed someone else and I need to know if it’s okay to kiss him again._

“Because what?”

 _“_ Because I’ve been busy,” Dongho said. That was a lie, and his conscience was sure to remind him of that: _How could you lie to Jonghyun’s face like that?_

As an honest person, he couldn’t let the lie linger. He took a deep breath, and corrected himself.

“Honestly, I kissed someone else yesterday,” Dongho confessed and watched as Jonghyun’s face fell.

“Oh.”

Dongho’s heart was burning with guilt at the sight of Jonghyun’s disappointment. He tried to make it a little better, explain himself just a bit: “I didn’t know where you and I stood, and it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, and I won’t do it again if I know for sure that we’re together.”

Jonghyun was looking at the table in front of them, pensive and sad. When he was ready to say something, he forced himself to smile. “I’m sorry that I confused you,” Jonghyun said. “I know I’ve been sending mixed signals.”

There goes Jonghyun: apologizing when it was Dongho that made the mistake. It was classic Jonghyun, making excuses for others and finding ways to blame himself for things that were never his fault.

“I love you,” Jonghyun said for the first time. “There, I made it clear now. Take it or leave it.”

The confession made Dongho’s heart skip a beat, because he loved Jonghyun too, and there was no one else he wanted to hear those words from. He smiled and reached for Jonghyun’s hands: “I’m taking it, of course. Because I love you, too.”

Jonghyun held Dongho’s hands tighter, also smiling. Dongho brought Jonghyun’s hands closer to his lips and kissed them, not caring about the people around them, watching and making judgements.

Jonghyun blushed. “Can I just ask something?” he said as Dongho massaged his hands.

“Anything.”

“The person you kissed… who was it?”

“Hwang Minhyun,” Dongho answered.

“Oh,” Jonghyun seemed surprised. “Do you like him?”

“Yes.” Dongho knew that this wasn’t the answer Jonghyun wanted, but he figured that honesty was more important than sugar-coating things to spare his feelings. Because Dongho did like Minhyun; it was hard _not_ to like him when that man was like this mega-attractive hero-lawyer that was helping him get his son back. “I like him, but _not_ like I like you.”

Jonghyun nodded in understanding, eyes averted. “Can I ask you not to see him again?”

It was at this point that Dongho let go of Jonghyun’s hands. “He’s my lawyer, Jonghyun. I have to see him.”

“But the custody case is over, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not,” Dongho said, surprised that Jonghyun didn’t know that. “The judge didn’t rule in my favor last hearing, but there’s another hearing later this month.”

Jonghyun seemed surprised to hear that as well, and it struck Dongho just how disconnected they had been the past few weeks. Small wonder he had forgotten about him the day before and indulged in another man’s lips.

“Oh. Well, in that case,” Jonghyun said, “I can’t ask you not to see him, but maybe I can ask you not to see him very much? And to… you know… keep it professional?” From Jonghyun, it sounded like a meek suggestion as opposed to a very reasonable request from a concerned lover.

But no matter how reasonable the ‘suggestion’ sounded, Dongho didn’t like it. He didn’t _want_ to keep it professional with Minhyun. He only _just_ made it past the client-zone. He didn’t want to go back to square one after all of this development.

Just as he was about to make his case for a friendship with Minhyun, Dongho melted into Jonghyun’s pleading eyes.

“Alright,” Dongho agreed with a nod. “If it will make you feel better, I’ll keep it professional with him.”

-

Minhyun waited for Dongho to contact him, but days passed with no correspondence between them whatsoever.

He figured that Dongho was just shaken and intimidated by what happened, afraid to face the awkwardness that was bound to ensue. Minhyun understood; he was also afraid, which was the reason that Minhyun himself didn’t reach out either.

Still, he kept working on the case in the meantime. He continued reading the books and writing the reports, and made a list of all the things he needed to ask Dongho for the next time they happened to speak again.

The lack of communication between them was delaying a lot of progress on the case, and made working on it a lot harder and more time-consuming. It was another case of personal feelings getting in the way of work again...

One night, he got a call from the anger management instructor that was supposed to meet with Dongho twice a week. Apparently, Dongho was not where he was supposed to be for his class, and was not even answering his phone calls.

At that point, Minhyun became worried, and tried to call Dongho himself. The phone kept ringing, with no answer. He texted him for the first time in days, nothing.

Maybe something had happened to him? Maybe _that_ was the reason Minhyun hadn’t heard from him for a few days?

Minhyun became anxious all of the sudden, a many dark (and unrealistic) possible scenarios ran through his head.

The anxiety became so overbearing that he couldn’t help but rush toward where Dongho lived, just to make sure he was okay and had not been infected with a deadly virus or something.

When he knocked on the door, he didn’t expect that he would come face to face with Jonghyun.

“Hi,” Minhyun greeted politely, pretending not to notice that Jonghyun was dripping wet and in boxer shorts. “Is… uh… is Dongho here?”

“He’s changing. Come in and wait for him if…”

“That’s not necessary,” Minhyun replied. “Just kindly ask him to hurry and go to his anger management session. He must have forgotten about it.”

Jonghyun nodded. “I’ll do that.”

There was an awkward silence. “So, um, I’ll be leaving now. See you around?”

“Yeah, bye.”

Minhyun rushed out feeling embarassed and stupid for assuming the worst, overeacting, and coming to his door only to be met with Dongho’s lover in boxers.

Seeing Jonghyun kind of felt like a slap in the face for Minhyun. A part of him had hoped that Jonghyun would just drift away from Dongho, and Jonghyun can no longer be used as an excuse for them not to kiss.

Minhyun sighed, telling himself to stop thinking about Dongho in that way. Dongho was a client, and maybe a friend. That kiss was a one-off thing he needed to put behind him and focus.

He was halfway down the block when Dongho called him.

“ _Hey, Minhyun. Sorry, I was taking a bath. Didn’t see my phone._ ”

“Yeah I was just calling to tell you…”

“ _The anger management thing, right? Yeah, I already called the instructor and told him I’ll be late. It completely slipped my mind, sorry_.”

“Well, please don’t forget again.”

“ _I won’t_.”

There was an awkward silence, one that Minhyun broke by asking him how he was. It only felt right to personalize the conversation just a little bit after everything that happened.

“ _I’m great_ ,” Dongho said. “ _Actually, Jonghyun and I got back together._ ”

“I figured. Congratulations.”

“ _Thanks. I’m very happy._ ”

“That’s good, Dongho. I’ll hang up now. You get to your session, okay? I’ll text you later…”

“ _Actually…_ ” Donghon interrupted. “ _I would prefer if we communicated by email from now on. I’m very responsive there, so it won’t cause any delays. I would also like it if we only met once a week in the office_.”

Minhyun didn’t say anything for a few seconds, surprised to hear Dongho say these things. “Okay,” Minhyun answered softly. “I get it.”

“ _Sorry, Minhyun. I don’t want this but_ …”

“Don’t apologize. It’s totally understandable. I’ll email you later, then, okay? I have to go now.”

He hung up immediately and took another deep breath, trying to relieve the sudden pang in his heart. Hearing the ever-so-friendly Dongho say these things was like another slap in the face. Just when Minhyun was able to break those walls between them, Dongho built them up again with extra fortification.

He drowned himself in work to try and get his mind off of everything. He got through half a book of legal jargon, wrote a professional email to Dongho, reorganized the report he was writing, and finished a lot of the paperwork. The more he worked, the more confident he became that maybe he was going to win this case for Dongho after all.

 _No. No._ Winning the case was not about Dongho, he thought. It was about how impressed Aron will be when he sees how well-thought out and sophisticated the arguments are, and how Minhyun would help the firm score another win. Maybe it will earn him a raise, or a promotion. Maybe he would be assigned to more interesting cases. This hard work was purely about him and his career, not Dongho.

No matter how much he tried to tell himself that, Minhyun could not help but imagine the gratitude on Dongho’s face after all of this was over. Dongho would definitely appreciate everything. Minhyun would do anything to see him smile when the judge ruled in his favor.

Maybe it was a good thing that Aron would be the one to see it and not him.

No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, Minhyun knew that the case had been contaminated with his personal feelings, so he shouldn’t be the one to deliver the case in court.

But in the meantime, Minhyun was determined to put his whole heart and soul into it. For Dongho’s sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i took long im sorry
> 
> writing two fics at the same time is so hard. i shouldnt do that but in my defense I really thought this would be a one-shot. (hahahahaha HA)  
> please enjoy the rest of this novel there are 3000 pages left


	7. Chapter 7

Dongho missed Minhyun. It had been a while since they’d seen one another. They went from seeing each other every single day and working closely together after work, to communicating through sparse, formal emails throughout the week; the change was too abrupt.

It was also counter-productive, because the less they communicated, the more Dongho thought about him.

Contrary to his expectations, Dongho couldn’t just erase that night from his head. Actually, it played in his head on repeat: the way Minhyun looked in boxers and wet hair, the way he seemed distrubed by the memories from his past, the way he leaned into Dongho’s touches, and the way he let Dongho kiss him for a few seconds before kissing him back.

Mostly, Dongho recalled the flutter in his heart when that happened. It was a flutter that he could not replicate with Jonghyun, no matter how hard he tried.

Dongho told himself that this was only because Minhyun’s kiss was spontaneous and unexpected; it had nothing to do with true and sincere feelings. He loved Jonghyun. He had loved Jonghyun for nearly a year now, and the lawyer he had barely known for one month could not upend all of that.

Dongho had to try very, very hard to remain formal on email, to avoid cracking a joke, making fun of a typo Minhyun made in the previous email, or even just adding a smiley face. He hated appearing so cold and uncaring, especially given everything that Minhyun was doing for him.

Dongho got email notifications from Minhyun at 3am sometimes. Once, Minhyun had accidentally attached the wrong file to the emails, and Dongho opened it to see 200 pages of annotated notes that the workaholic had written up within one week.

Minhyun was always, always working. Dongho knew that because whenever he sent an email, Minhyun would respond within minutes. Dongho wondered if Minhyun ever even slept.

Dongho received this email at 1AM that night:

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Kindly find the attached document for your perusal and fact-checking. I would strongly appreciate your response by tomorrow morning, as I need to send these to Aron ASAP. Thank you. _

_ Best, _

Dongho read the email and felt concerned. Just yesterday, Minhyun was sending emails from 5am and all throughout the day. Maybe it was unprofessional, but he needed to communicate this:

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Please stop working so late all the time. You need to sleep. _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Thank you for your concern. I am fine, don’t worry. If you’re awake, I would appreciate it if you had a look at the document I attached in the previous email so I can confirm it in the report. _

_ Best Regards, _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ If I do it now, you’ll have work to do. So I would rather do it tomorrow morning so you can go to sleep. Please go to sleep. _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ I will sleep better if I get this done tonight, so I ask your kind cooperation to review it please. _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ If I review it and send it, will you promise to sleep right after you finish the task? _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Yes, promise. Waiting for your kind reply. _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ I’ve attached the file with my review. Looks good! Now keep your promise and sleep. _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Thank you so much for this. Have a good night! _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Are you asleep yet? _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ No. Still working. _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ GO SLEEP. _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Your emails are distracting me from working! I will finish quicker without all these notifications :) _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Okay, fine. I’ll stop emailing. Good night. You better sleep soon! _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ I will, don’t worry. Thank you for caring. Good night. _

That email exchange made Dongho happy, because for once they weren’t all cold and callous. Minhyun even added a smiley face!

It was silly how happy that smiley face had made him.

Dongho couldn’t fall asleep, roused as he wondered whether Minhyun had gone to sleep or not. Dongho considered replying and asking him, but was afraid that the email notification would either break his concentration, or disturb his sleep.

But Dongho just couldn’t sleep as he wondered.

Soon, he found himself heading toward Minhyun’s apartment, for no other reason than to satiate his curiosity. He didn’t plan to actually knock on the door or anything, but he hoped to see Minhyun’s lights turned off through his window.

When he arrived, he was disappointed and not surprised to see that the lights in Minhyun’s apartment were on.

Dongho sat down on the sidewalk, waiting to see when Minhyun would turn them off, just to be assured that Minhyun was indeed going to sleep.

When 2:30am came, and the lights were still on, Dongho decided to send an email.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Are you asleep yet? _

Minhyun didn’t reply to that, and Dongho began to wonder: was Minhyun asleep but left the lights on? Did Minhyun see the email and was ignoring him so he wasn’t outed for breaking his promise? Or did Minhyun simply not see the email?

Dongho sent another email.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ I know you’re awake. Don’t ignore me! _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ Yes, you’re right. I am awake, and so are you, it seems. You should stop worrying about me and get some rest yourself. It’s late, and you have work tomorrow morning. _

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ You promised me that you would sleep :( _

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ I’ll sleep now. Please don’t worry about me anymore. _

Dongho waited for ten minutes, but the lights remained on, and it became increasingly clear to Dongho that Minhyun didn’t intend to sleep at all.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ If you aren’t going to sleep, then the least I could do is stay awake with you. Let me know if you need me for anything. I’ll be awake for as long as you are. _

Dongho didn’t really think that email through, because of course, Minhyun would have figured out that Dongho was lurking. Just a minute after Dongho sent the email, Minhyun had come to the window and began looking around. Dongho tried to hide behind a car before Minhyun caught him looking like a creepy stalker, but it was too late. Minhyun caught sight of him as he fumbled to get up from the sidewalk, then turned to his phone to send an email.

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ It’s cold outside. Come up. _

“Shit,” Dongho murmured under his breath, looking up at Minhyun’s figure through the window. As much as he wanted to be up there and see Minhyun again, he knew that he shouldn’t. He had already overstepped all the boundaries by being there.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ I really shouldn’t. Sorry for creeping. I’ll leave now. _

Dongho began walking back home, and as he did, got Minhyun’s next email.

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ It will be purely professional. I have something to ask you about the case, actually. Please come up. _

Dongho stopped walking and turned to see Minhyun still standing at the window, looking at him.

He really wanted to go up, but his conscience was not letting him. Because, even if this meeting would be purely ‘professional,’ it was bred of unprofessional circumstances. He was supposed to distance himself from Minhyun, not visit him at 3am after sending a long chain of emails that might as well have been text messages.

As he debated with himself about whether he should accept Minhyun’s invitation, Minhyun continued to stand and watch him from the window.

He needed to be honest with himself: the temptation to see Minhyun and spend time with him was too strong.

It wasn’t okay.

He turned to Minhyun’s building and made his way through the front gate, and all the way up to Minhyun’s floor. Minhyun opened the door for him, and smiled when he saw him.

Dongho didn’t smile. He only felt soul-crushing guilt as his heart skipped a beat at the sight of someone who wasn’t Jonghyun.

“Come in, Dongho,” Minhyun beckoned him inside, and he entered, eyes darting towards the sofa he and Minhyun had kissed on the other day.

He took a seat in the exact same place he had been during that kiss.

Minhyun, also, did the same, bringing his laptop with him.

Minhyun definitely looked like he needed some sleep. He appeared exhausted. There were hoards of books on his desk and coffee tables, with various color-coded sticky notes all over them. He had two empty cups of coffee beside him, and his hair was unkempt.

In spite of all of that, Dongho still could not stop looking at him.

“I’ll get right to the point. I had something I wanted to talk to you face-to-face about, so it’s good that you’re here...”

Minhyun was good at ignoring the fact Dongho was just caught loitering outside his building like a stalker, and the fact that it was nearly 3am, and the fact that Dongho was looking at him with a restrained kind of desire.

“I wanted to ask if Jonghyun would consider testifying again, considering the, well, changed circumstances,” Minhyun suggested meekly, as if he were afraid of Dongho’s answer.

Dongho was attentive enough to know the answer to that suggestion. “No,” he said simply.

“Hear me out, okay?” Minhyun said, “I really think that his testimony would make a difference in the judge’s perception. Before, you said no because you didn’t want to involve him, but now you’re in a relationship with him. And I know that Jonghyun is an idol in training, and you would like to keep his name out of the records, and so I spent a lot of time searching for a loophole, and eventually I did find a way to accommodate that legally! His name could be redacted from all the records, knowable only to the judge and the lawyers if he wants…”

“Please, Minhyun,” Dongho interrupted. “It’s not a good idea.”

“But why not?”

“Just because.”

“That’s not a good enough reason, Dongho. Give me a proper reason and maybe I can help you avoid potential problems…”

“You really want to know why?”

“Yes, tell me.”

“It’s because I don’t feel comfortable asking him to do that for me, when I’m going to break up with him.”

Minhyun’s eyes widened a little, and he said nothing for a long moment. “But you love him,” Minhyun stated after a while. “Why would you break up with him?”

“Because I like  _ you _ ,” Dongho said, letting the words fall from his lips with no filter. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Minhyun froze again. The confession caught him off guard, and it caught Dongho off guard too, because he never expressed those feelings for Minhyun in words.

“Say something,” Dongho said, breaking the sudden silence. He didn’t know what he expected or wanted Minhyun to say, but he certainly didn’t want silence.

“Are you really going to break up with him?” Minhyun asked. The question disappointed Dongho; he wished that Minhyun would acknowledge the confession, but he seemed to be evading the topic.

“Yes,” Dongho answered. “As soon as I see him.”

“Can I ask you not to?” Minhyun suggested hesitantly. “Until after the trial?”

Dongho narrowed his eyes.

“You want to win full custody, right? Well, Jonghyun’s testimony could be the difference between that and joint custody,” Minhyun explained. “So please break up with him later.”

“I can’t do that,” Dongho replied. “That’s taking advantage of him.”

“That’s making sure you get Minki back,” Minhyun said.

“No. I will not do that to him. Not even for Minki.”

Minhyun let out a brief sigh, and nodded. “Okay fine. Your call.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Dongho asked, hoping that Minhyun would say something to acknowledge Dongho’s feelings for him, and from the way Minhyun was looking at him, it was certain that Minhyun knew that.

Minhyun took a moment to think before saying: “I… I made a mistake that night. I led you on, and I shouldn’t have. I need to be clear, Dongho, that nothing should ever happen between us. You are my client, and maybe my friend, but nothing more. Also, some personal advice: don’t let that momentary spark between us ruin what you have with Jonghyun. You are a rash and compulsive person, and I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later and hurt someone you love in the process.”

The rejection was painful and humiliating. “Do you really think that it was just a ‘momentary spark’?” Dongho asked, embarrassed at himself for being so upfront.

“It was just this spur-of-the-moment, one-time thing, born of high emotions and sleep deprivation,” Minhyun replied. “No actual feelings were involved.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dongho scoffed in response.

“No, Dongho, I’m speaking for you too. How can you like me when you don’t know anything about me at a...”

“I know enough to like you,” Dongho cut him off. “I know that you’re smart, and that you work hard, and that you’re going to change my life by bringing Minki back to me…”

“But I’m...”

“I like how well-spoken and calm you are. I like how sweetly you smile, and how goofily laugh. I love talking with you. I love being with you. I love seeing you.”

At this point, Minhyun’s head was lowered, and his eyes were avoiding Dongho’s. He did not seem to have anything to say.

Dongho didn’t want to push anymore. He got the message. “But I get it: you don’t feel the same way. So we can move on…”

“Dongho, just think about what you’re saying. The few little things you like about me, do they really rival all the things you love about Jonghyun? Think about this, and don’t act off impulse. You might end up hurting the person you were actually meant to be with.”

Dongho nodded in understanding at everything Minhyun was saying. Maybe he was right.

But soon after he realized this, Dongho’s only thoughts were how sensible and articulate and caring Minhyun was for saying all of that. He loved how reasonable and down-to-earth he was, as opposed to his own emotional, impulsive predilections that made him confess to his lawyer at 3am, while he was in a relationship with someone he cared about deeply.

“I think I should go,” Dongho said, standing up and heading for the door.

Minhyun seemed to agree with that, nodding briefly.

“Thank you, Minhyun. For everything,” Dongho said. “I really, really, really appreciate you.”

Minhyun smiled a little. “I know. I wish you and Jonghyun work everything out.”

With that, Dongho left, and within seconds, he found himself missing Minhyun again.

-

_ Dear Dongho,  _

_ As discussed in our meeting this morning, I kindly ask you to consider letting Jonghyun testify. It might make all the difference in the final outcome. Please speak with him and let me know your final decision so I can proceed with the necessary arrangements. _

_ All the best, _ _   
_ _ Minhyun _

Minhyun dreaded how his personal feelings got so interlocked with this case, to the point that he couldn’t even write an email without questioning his morals.

He just didn’t want Dongho to sabotage his chances of winning this case and getting Minki out of that terrible woman’s clutches once and for all, so he grasped at every potential advantage they would have in court.

Even if that advantage stood in the way of something that Minhyun  _ really _ wanted: embracing a different kind of relationship with Dongho.

Minhyun had the chance, and he let it slip from his fingers, because as much as he wanted to take advantage of Dongho’s sudden hesitation with Jonghyun, as much as he wanted to embrace the relationship that Dongho had laid bare before him, there were other things that were more important. Namely: Dongho’s happiness. Dongho can only be happy if that vile woman was cut from his life, and Jonghyun made that prospect that much more probable. If Dongho was to really break up with Jonghyun, it meant potentially losing that advantage.

But Dongho was much too kind-hearted to just delay the break-up until after the trial, and so Minhyun had to use his lawyer reasoning skills to convince Dongho that his motivations for breaking up in the first place were not valid.

And it was true that they weren’t: Minhyun really believed that Dongho was acting on a whim, confessing on a whim, breaking up on a whim. It was true that Dongho didn’t know him, and that if he did, Dongho would realize that his feelings were misplaced and unwarranted.

Soon after sending that email, Dongho sent a reply.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ I apologize, but Jonghyun will not be involved with this trial. _

_ Sincerely, _ _   
_ _ Dongho _

There was no explanation, and Minhyun found himself wondering what had happened, and whether it was appropriate to pry for a further explanation. Did Jonghyun not want to? Did Dongho do something stupid and break up with him after all? Or was Dongho just afraid of involving Jonghyun and exposing him to the public?

It drove Minhyun crazy, because he knew how much it would help the case to have Jonghyun’s testimony. It was a valuable asset, so valuable, Minhyun deemed it worth his chances with Dongho.

Minhyun had given up something he desired for this, and he felt entitled to an explanation.

_ Dear Dongho, _

_ May I please know why not? _

  
  


_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ I need you to drop this. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. _

It upset Minhyun so much. He wanted to properly reason with Dongho, but that was impossible on email.

Frustrated at being kept in the dark, he picked up the phone and called him, in spite of Dongho’s explicit request for all their communication to be channeled through email.

“ _ What _ ?” Dongho replied when he answered his phone. He didn’t seem very happy.

“Hello to you too.”

“ _ If this is about Jonghyun _ ,  _ I don’t want to talk about it.” _

“Why not?”

“ _Just_ _because_.”

“That’s not good enough for me, Dongho.”

“ _ I don’t owe you an explanation _ .”

Dongho’s coldness caught Minhyun off gaurd, but Minhyun wouldn’t take it. “Yes, you do, actually. I’ve been working day and night on this case, trying to turn this whole narrative in your favor, leveraging every single detail I can find for you. Jonghyun is a big part of this narrative, and you’re just blocking the possibility of using him, and offering no reason, and denying us this huge advantage, and it’s bothering me. I just can’t wrap my head around this! This can only help you get your son back for crying out loud!” Minhyun didn’t expect to snap like that, and it seemed like Dongho himself was surprised, because there was a brief moment of silence between them.

“ _ I’m going to hang up now. Don’t try to contact me.” _

Dongho did hang up, much to Minhyun’s regret.

He didn’t want to leave things on this note.

Minhyun tried calling again, but Dongho continued to ignore. He tried sending text messages, but they were not being received. He tried email again, and received no response.

And that went on for a while...

Day passed, and Minhyun did not hear from Dongho at all. Dongho didn’t even respond to formal emails. Minhyun was worried, and afraid that Dongho was angry with him. Or that Dongho wanted to shut him out for good for the sake of his relationship with Jonghyun. Or maybe being rejected by him had taken a toll on his pride.

He didn’t know what to do. He thought of going to pay him a visit, but was afraid of confronting him and confirming that Dongho was indeed upset with him. He didn’t want to push Dongho any further, because he was clearly sensitive to whatever it was that was causing him to shut down like this.

At one point, Minhyun urgently needed Dongho for something related to the case, and the fact that Dongho could not be reached made him nervous.

_ Dear Dongho _ ,

_ For whatever reason you are choosing to ignore me, I hope that it’s not serious enough for you to sabotage your chances to win this case. I need to submit the evidence I have by  _ **_tomorrow_ ** _ , so I need your urgent support in helping me edit the recording as we agreed, or else we won’t be able to use it in court.  _

_ I’ve attached the recording, and below I’ve listed the time stamps of what to include and what to remove. Please, please, please reply and let me know that you’ve at least acknowledged this email and will take the necessary action by the deadline. _

_ Also, I apologize if I’ve overstepped with my insistence. I promise I won’t mention it again. _

_ Best, _ _   
_ _ Minhyun. _

A few minutes later, Dongho replied, much to Minhyun’s relief.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Received. I’ll work on it tonight and send it. _

_ Also, apology accepted. :) _

_ Sincerely, _ _   
_ _ Dongho. _

That smiley face made Minhyun feel happier than he cared to admit. It was a symbol of amity after too long a period of cold silence.

-

Dongho opened the recording that Minhyun sent and began to work on it. It was five hours long, and it chronicled everything that had gone down between Minhyun and his ex-wife in that little trick that he played.

Dongho listened to it as he worked, as painful as it was to hear his dreadful ex-wife flirt with Minhyun, and Minhyun flirt back.

Listening to it this time was much different than it was the first time. Now, as he heard Minhyun flirt with and laugh with her, all Dongho could think was how lucky she was that she got to experience that side of Minhyun. The flirty, seductive, charming side of Minhyun.

There was another side of Minhyun in that recording too, a side that made Dongho’s heart skip a beat, and those feelings, which he had been trying hard to forget, swell.

When Minhyun met Minki and played with him, Dongho found himself getting lost in the sound of his son’s laugh and admiring how Minhyun knew exactly what to do to make him happy.

Unlike the rest of that dreadful recording, this part sounded genuine. This part was not an act; it was a part of Minhyun that Dongho had never seen behind his robo-lawyer facade.

His heart filled with longing as he continued to listen. There was nothing he wanted more than this: Minki and Minhyun, together, happy. He felt, in some way, that he was listening to a dream.

When he finished editing the recording as Minhyun recorded, he went through again and distorted Minhyun’s voice a little, just in case he would get in trouble if Aron or whoever heard this. The thought of Minhyun getting in trouble upset him.

_ Dear Minhyun, _

_ Please find attached the recording edited as requested. I also did a little something to your voice so you won’t get in trouble. _

_ Also, thank you for making Minki so happy that day. He’s usually shy, but with you, he really opened up, which means he likes you. If I get Minki back, I would love it if you could visit and make him laugh like that again. _

_ Best, _ _   
_ _ Dongho _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello everyone! I’m so so sorry for the late update, but i swear to you that i have written over 70 pages for this chapter because I am never happy with what i write and end up scrapping and rewriting. not to mention the fact that I usually write in the library, but now that the library is closed and I’ve been self-quarantining in a small home with 8 people, you can imagine it’s hard to find the peace of mind to write :) but yeah, i feel relieved to finally post something. hope you like it? *nervous laughter*
> 
> also i’m going to try to wrap this story up in the next chapter/s, within a week, I hope. Thanks for being patient with me!


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a week since Dongho had sent the edited recording, and Minhyun was finally able to submit everything to Aron to take forward in court. At that point, Minhyun’s job had been done. It was in Aron’s hands now.

Today was trial day, and Minhyun was very nervous that he couldn’t even sleep the night before, which told him that this was all very wrong. He usually never cared about trial results; he only wanted his clients to win because it would reflect well on him and get him further in his career. But this time, it wasn’t about his career at all. He wanted Dongho to win, not for his own sake, but for Dongho's.

He wanted nothing more than for Dongho to be happy, and he had hoped that he had done enough to make that happen.

He longed to talk to him and ask him how he was doing, what he was feeling, and to reassure him that he was going to see Minki tomorrow, but he was unsure about whether Dongho would be okay with that. Apart from the brief email exchange, Dongho had been clearly ignoring him ever since the whole confession-rejection thing.

Minhyun was not entirely sure why Dongho was ignoring him. He guessed it was shame and embarrassment, or maybe Dongho was angry at him for insisting to have Jonghyun testify. Whatever it was, Minhyun intended to find out the next time they happened to see one another.

That time came a lot sooner than Minhyun had expected.

While he was making his coffee that morning, he heard someone knock on his door and was surprised when he saw Dongho standing at his doorstep. Minhyun couldn’t hide his happiness; he smiled widely and had the overwhelming urge to embrace him. He missed him. It had been two weeks since they had seen one another, but it felt like much longer.

Dongho was wearing his suit and his tie was loosely and unevenly knotted around his neck. His hair was styled back with gel and he smelled of men’s cologne. He was dressed in a brand new, formal suit, ready for the upcoming trial. Apart from the mishandled tie, he looked clean and fresh, unlike Minhyun, who was still in sweatpants and an undershirt.

“What are you doing here?” Minhyun asked when he saw him.

“I just wanted to come by and thank you. Your place is on the way to the courtroom, so I figured I should stop by and tell you that… you know… that I really appreciate everything you’ve done.” Dongho seemed a little embarrassed to be there. He couldn’t even look Minhyun in the eye as he stood outside his door, gaze fluttering from Minhyun to the wall.

“Dongho, you don’t have to thank me,” Minhyun replied. “I was just doing my job. Please come in. Let me make you a coffee or something…”

“No, that’s okay. I should head to the courtroom anyways. Aron told me to be there an hour early so we can go over courtroom etiquette.”

It was upsetting to hear Dongho declined the invitation; Minhyun really wanted to spend more time with him. “I’m afraid that if I let you go, I won’t be able to see you again,” Minhyun said. “Now that we no longer have a reason to email one another, and you don’t answer my calls or my texts…”

“I’ll answer now, I promise,” Dongho said. “I’m sorry for being unresponsive before. I was just not in a good place, and I felt like I needed distance from you, but I’m okay now!”

“Was it something I did?” Minhyun asked, concerned. Whatever it was that made Dongho want to ignore him for so long, Minhyun wanted to know what it was so that it never happened again.

“No, it’s not that,” Dongho replied. “It’s just that… well, Jonghyun and I seperated.”

Minhyun’s only reaction to that was guilt. He felt like he had gotten in the way of them, like he had sabotaged something that was important to Dongho, even though he tried to step back.

“That’s kind of why I couldn’t ask him to testify for me,” Dongho explained. “I didn’t tell you then, because I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Minhyun replied, looking down. “I feel somewhat responsible for what happened…”

Dongho shook his head. “It wasn’t because of you. Well, it wasn’t  _ just _ because of you. There were a lot of other things too, like the fact Jonghyun was getting busy with debut preparations, and he didn’t feel ready to have a child in his life. You know when he agreed to get back together with me, it was because he had thought that I lost custody; he was caught off guard when I told him that we were still working on the case. Naturally, I knew it wasn’t going to work out. I couldn’t be with someone who thought that spending time with Minki was a compromise he had to make to be with me, you know?”

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you to hear,” Minhyun said.

“It was. But it was also hard for Jonghyun to hear about… you know.” Dongho lifted his arm quickly to point toward him, obviously referring to those unresolved feelings he knew he harbored.

“You told him about that?”

“I couldn’t  _ not _ tell him. It would be wrong to hide it from him.”

“You’re too honest,” Minhyun said, feeling guilty as he compared himself with Dongho. Dongho could not hide anything from Jonghyun, even things that lovers would typically hide; Minhyun, on the other hand, had been nothing short of dishonest about his own feelings, assuming that eventually his dishonesty would be better for Dongho. It wasn’t.

Minhyun probably just hurt and embarrassed him instead. Dongho processed that dishonesty as a rejection, attributing it to his own shortcomings. Minhyun wished he could turn back time and not make Dongho feel like that.

He considered maybe coming clean now, there and then: saying something like ‘hey, by the way, I actually like you too,’ but Dongho seemed a bit uneasy about the upcoming trial, and he was in a hurry. It wasn’t the right time.

“I have to get going now,” Dongho said.

“Wait, hold on,” Minhyun stopped him, and he reached out to undo Dongho’s uneven tie. It had been slightly pestering him throughout their brief conversation, and he couldn’t let Dongho walk into court like that.

Dongho looked down at Minhyun’s hands loosening the tie, and then up at Minhyun’s focused expression. Minhyun felt Dongho’s gaze fixed on him, but he pretended not to.

He let his hands work slowly. He wanted this to last, whatever  _ this _ was. He wanted to be close and intimate with Dongho. He wanted Dongho to keep looking at him. And he wanted his hands to keep brushing against Dongho’s neck and chest for as long as possible.

When the tie was done, Minhyun had to tear himself away and step back, although he longed to stay there for longer. He longed to be even closer.

“Thank you,” Dongho said, lowering his head when Minhyun stepped back. “I’ll go now,” he said, before swiftly turning his flushed face, and walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NUEST COMEBACK INCOMING IM SO EXCITED


	9. Chapter 9

Dongho had really wanted to kiss Minhyun when he was fixing his tie, and it took every bit of self-restraint he had not to. Minhyun’s touch still lingered on his chest as he dashed away, feeling helpless and frustrated that he had to bury those desires, because Minhyun had made it clear where he stood.

Maybe this whole detour to Minhyun’s place was a mistake, Dongho thought. Maybe he should have prolonged the ignoring and avoiding period, because clearly two weeks had not been enough.

He arrived at the courtroom, still flustered and distracted with the thought of Minhyun’s hands on his chest.

“You look distracted,” Aron rightly noted when he saw him.

“Yeah, a little,” Dongho answered. “But I’ll get it together.”

“You better,” Aron said. “It’s the wrong time to be distracted.”

It really was the wrong time to be distracted. He was just about to go into court and fight for Minki; Minhyun should not be on his mind  _ at all _ . He needed to reconfigure his emotional priorities.

That didn’t take long. As Aron took him through the coming proceedings, Dongho was able to stop thinking about Minhyun for a moment, instead focusing his heart and energy into helping Aron deliver the best possible case.

Dongho didn’t know if it was realistic to expect he would get full custody. He liked to think that it was, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up and be disappointed in the end.

Soon, they were done going through everything.

“Minhyun really worked hard for you, huh?” Aron asked, glancing at Dongho from the side of his eye with a knowing grin on his face.

“Yeah. He was amazing. Give him a raise or something,” Dongho said, hoping that maybe this endorsement would plant the seed for something good for Minhyun’s life.

Aron laughed at that and shook his head. “Just be careful. Don’t let your ex-wife see him and find out he was your lawyer or she might sue. Also give it a few months before you let anyone else find out about your relationship…”

“Wait. What are you talking about?”

“Come on, it’s clear as day. He worked his ass off for you, and you both are two attractive single gay men who were forced to spend a lot of time together. Doesn’t take rocket science to put two and two together.”

Dongho blushed and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well… um… you’ve got it wrong.”

“Sure I do,” Aron said, winking.

“No, really…”

“Totally,” Aron replied sarcastically.

Dongho didn’t want to argue anymore. As wrong as Aron was, it seemed like he had made up his mind about this.

Dongho wished he were right though.

-

Minhyun waited anxiously for the results of the trial while sitting at his office. He had asked Aron to text him as soon as it was over, but Aron was late, as usual.

The session should have ended five minutes ago? Where was the text?

Minhyun nudged Aron with a ‘?’ message, only to have to wait ten more minutes before Aron finally responded.

“ _ Chill, bro!” _ was the first text he received, a text which gave no indication about the result of the trial and drove Minhyun mad.

“ _ What happened???” _ Minhyun texted anxiously.

Aron left him on read for three full minutes, and Minhyun was nearly tearing his hair out. He wanted to call, but figured he shouldn’t risk coming off as too passionate about this case to his boss.

“ _ Joint custody,” _ Aron finally replied.

Minhyun felt his heart drop.

Joint custody was not  _ bad _ ; it was still a win, but it was not what he hoped for. Now, Dongho would get Minki back, but still had to keep that vile woman in his life.

“ _ Dongho sends his love and support,” _ Aron added. “ _ You did good, Min.” _

Minhyun wondered if he did enough though. Maybe if he had read that extra book, or did not skim through that one chapter, or added another testimony, or even used more flowery vocabulary in his reports… maybe it would have made a difference.

The thought tormented Minhyun. The more he dwelled on it, the guiltier he became. He felt like he had given Dongho false hope, and wondered how upset Dongho was about the outcome.

He had to hold himself from calling him to ask, because he knew that Dongho would be busy with all the proceedings, and he would soon have his reunion with Minki.

Minhyun felt he had no right to just insert himself into Dongho’s personal life like that.

-

After hours of deliberating to reach a settlement on the terms of their custody, Dongho was mentally exhausted. Keeping his cool in the presence of his infuriating, odious ex-wife was extremely difficult, especially as she was being extremely uncooperative, obviously angry at the outcome of the trial, and wanted to get back at being embarrassed in court when she was exposed as a liar, courtesy of Minhyun’s recording.

She made things very difficult, never settling and making this whole ordeal drag on for so much longer than it needed to. But perhaps it was good in the end, because even the judge was sick of her and gave Dongho all the perks.

Dongho would get Minki during the summer and fall, which meant he got Minki during his birthday and during vacation. It also meant he only had to see that woman once every six months, which was the best part.

Actually, the best part was that Dongho would get to see Minki right after all of this was over, and that got him through all the tedious discussions.

When he finally left the room, and saw Minki sitting there outside, waiting for him, all of the pent-up stress and frustration was diffused, and all he felt was relief.

_ Finally _ , he was reunited with Minki. Finally.

“Daddy!” he Minki said as he charged into his arms. Dongho wrapped his arms around him and held him tight, afraid to let go. “Daddy, I missed you.”

“I miss you too, so much.” Dongho said, trying to hold himself from crying. He failed of course, and quickly had to wipe his tears before Minki saw them and embarrassed him. Dongho then parted from him to admire how much he’d grown in the past few months.

“Why didn’t you come visit in so long?” Minki asked his father.

“I wanted to visit you more than anything in the world, baby. But bad people were keeping me from you, but they won’t anymore, I promise.”

“You defeated the bad guys?” Minki’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Yes, I did!”

“All by yourself?”

Dongho laughed and shook his head. “No, I had some help,” Dongho replied, smiling at the thought of the person who helped him. “I actually met this superhero. He was so smart and strong, and he told me exactly how to defeat the bad guys so I could see you.”

“A real superhero?” Minki asked with stars in his eyes.

Dongho nodded, and Minki smiled brightly, expressing his excitement at the fact a real superhero helped bring them together.

_ Thank you, Minhyun _ , Dongho thought as he delighted in the long-overdue company of his most precious treasure, of Minki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I rest my case.

A few hours had passed since the verdict, and Minhyun felt the guilt gather in the pit of his stomach. He could not eat or drink or think about anything besides the fact that he failed Dongho.

He sent Dongho a text message to express that.

_ Hi Dongho. I hope your reunion with Minki is going well. I just wanted to write to say that I’m so sorry I couldn’t secure full custody. You counted on me, and I failed you. _

Within minutes of sending that message, Dongho was calling him.

Minhyun answered. “Hey, Dongho…”

“ _ Are you the superhero?” _ came the squeaky voice of a child, the voice of Minki.

“Oh, hey Minki!” Minhyun replied, smiling.

“ _ Hello, superhero!” _

Minhyun figured that Dongho had told Minki that he was a superhero and laughed. “Did you meet your dad?”

“ _ Yeah, I did! Because you helped daddy defeat the bad guys! Thank you soooooooo much, you’re the best.” _

“Any time a bad guy tries to seperate you again, I’ll make sure to beat them for you!”

Just then, another voice came through. Dongho’s voice. “ _ I think Minki wants to meet the superhero face to face.” _

_ “Yeah!”  _ Minki beamed excitedly. _ “Can I, daddy? Can I, pleasseee?” _

_ “Ask him,” _ Dongho said _. “Superhero, would you join us for dinner tomorrow?” _

“Um… okay,” said Minhyun.

“ _ Yay! I’m gonna meet a real-life superhero!”  _ Minki yelled.

“ _ That’s right… Minki, what did I say about holding in your pee?” _

“ _ Okay, I’m going, I’m going!” _ Minki’s voice faded with his running footsteps.

Dongho then cleared his throat and changed the tone of his voice.  _ “See you at dinner tomorrow. Wear a cape.” _

Minhyun chuckled. “I’ll do that.”

“ _ Also, thank you. Again.” _

“Why are you thanking me? I didn’t get you full custody like I said I would.”

“ _ It doesn’t matter. Right now I’m just happy I get to see him again. You made that happen for me.” _

_ “ _ I’m sorry it didn’t turn out a different way…”

“ _ Minhyun, don’t you dare apologize. Don’t you dare feel guilty. Right now, I’m the happiest I have ever been in a long time, and it’s because of your efforts.” _

Minhyun fell silent. There lingered a brief pause between them, until Minki’s distant voice was heard from the bathroom. “ _ Daddy, I have poop stuck in my butt!” _

_ “I have to go. Duty calls.” _

Minhyun laughed. “Go on. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“ _ 6pm. Don’t forget the cape _ !”

-

Dongho had forgotten how high-maintenance children were. Minki needed constant attention, which was exhausting, in a good kind of way.

But Dongho had no time to cook the marvelous three-course meal he had planned for Minhyun. He was too busy trying to keep Minki clothed, fed, and entertained all day. He resorted to ordering food instead.

He was getting the dining table cleaned and ready when Minhyun knocked on the door.

When he opened, Dongho’s eyes widened. The ever-so-prissy robo-lawyer that Dongho knew and loved now donned the most flamboyant Optimus Prime costume he had ever seen, including a mask and foam armor covered in color.

Dongho burst out laughing.

Minki, who left his Lego bricks to see who was at the door, gasped in amazement at what he saw. “It’s a real-life superhero!” he yelled and charged at Minhyun, wrapping his arm around his legs.

“Hello, champ!” Minhyun said, ruffling his hair, struggling with the foam around his chest.

“You’re so cool!”

“Oh yeah? Looks like daddy doesn’t think so,” Minhyun said, glancing in Dongho’s direction, who was still laughing at Minhyun’s attire.

“No, daddy thinks you’re cool too!” Minki said. “Right daddy?”

“He’s the  _ coolest _ ,” Dongho replied. And he meant it. Minhyun, even in his ostentatious outfit, was the coolest person in the world for doing it just to make Minki happy.

The amusement slowly turned into complete and utter affection for everything Minhyun. He watched with fondness as Minhyun humored Minki by telling him about what the buttons on his costume do.

He really liked Minhyun.

Even though his feelings were still there in full force, their dynamic did feel a bit different now. Now, Minhyun was no longer his lawyer. He was here purely as a friend.

_ Friend _ . 

How Dongho wished Minhyun could be more than that, but Minhyun had made his position very clear. It sucked, but Dongho would get over it. Right now, he just wanted to make sure that Minhyun would stay in his life after the professional association had ended.

-

It was a memorable day. Minhyun felt like he was actually having  _ fun _ . After too long living alone in this metropolitan city, stuck in a job that he hated, feeling unfulfilled and lonely, this was a day when everything finally felt good.

He loved that his job brought him to Dongho, and loved that he helped reunite him with Minki. He did something meaningful, something good, for someone good. And he was laughing and talking and enjoying himself more than he ever did since he moved to Seoul and became a lawyer. Even wearing the most uncomfortable costume, he never felt more content.

When Dongho took Minki into his bedroom at bedtime, Minhyun immediately felt empty. He missed them already, both of them.

But the night was not over, and Minhyun knew that the hardest moment was yet to come: Minhyun still had to come clean.

He had feelings for Dongho, and wanted to be with him. He was more certain of that now than he ever was. He wanted to be a part of Dongho’s life, and not just as a casual friend, and so he needed to tell Dongho how he felt.

Among the two of them, it was Dongho who took initiative. In normal circumstances, it should have been Dongho who brought this relationship to bear, not him. But Dongho had already taken initiative, and Minhyun had already blocked him out. It was up to Minhyun to rectify that and take the lead on initiating the relationship that both of them wanted.

That was a trying task for Minhyun, who found it hard to put his heart out in the open and let out his feelings. As a self-composed and professional person by nature, emotional confessions did not come easy to him.

It was a challenge that Minhyun confronted the Minhyun way: well-reasoned, logical reports supported by coherent evidence.

The night before, he had typed down a two-page monologue with exactly what he was going to say, and practiced saying it in front of the mirror. It was a long, sensible explanation for why he lied about his feelings when Dongho confessed the first time, and an eloquent expression of his true heart.

Now that he was trying to remember the monologue he had spent three hours last night writing, editing, memorizing, and rehearsing, he felt tongue-tied and nervous. It all came out as a jumble in his head in the brief moment he had to practice when Dongho was taking Minki to bed.

This was not going well.

For a moment, Minhyun considered maybe sending the confession through email or something, but then held back. The whole point of this was that they were breaking that formality barrier, and an email would bring them right back into that professional culture.

Maybe a text message? It would be a long text message, and Minhyun would have to edit it to add some emojis and de-cap his I’s so that it would be more informal.

No, no. He had to do it face-to-face.

But how could he do it looking like  _ that _ ?

He took off his mask and all the foam armor around his arms and chest, leaving him in a colorful latex jumpsuit that was way too tight. He groaned, placing the foam armor on his lap to cover up just a little.

He looked horrible. He should have thought this through and brought a change of clothes.

Maybe it would be better to confess later, he thought, when he actually looked presentable and was not too embarrassed to even stand.

At that point, Dongho came out of the room. “Why did you take it off?”

“Is there another child I have to entertain tonight?” Minhyun asked with a chuckle.

“Me,” Dongho answered. As he approached and got a closer look at what Minhyun was wearing now, he grinned. “But hey, I’m entertained with this too.”

Minhyun let out a small smile and suddenly became nervous at the realization that now was the time. He had to say it. There would be no better time.

“What’s wrong? You look… uncomfortable,” Dongho noted.

“Well. Yeah. There’s something I um… I need to tell you,” he stuttered as he tried to remember the very first sentence in the speech he prepared last night, but his mind went completely blank.

Dongho looked worried. He seemed to be expecting something bad. “Go on, then.”

Minhyun didn’t know why he found it so hard to just come out with it. He already knew that Dongho had feelings for him too, so was he so nervous? He didn’t need a two-page monologue. He just needed to say it.

“You’re scaring me,” Dongho said. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong… you know, maybe I should just… send you an email.”

“Is it something to do with the case?”

“No, no. It’s nothing like that.”

“Then why aren’t you just saying it?”

“Because it’s hard,” Minhyun whined. “You know what, I’ll just read it to you.” Minhyun took out his phone to find the monologue, and when he finally got it open, he cleared his throat, and started.

“Dearest Dongho,” Minhyun read. “Before I start, I would like to ask you to wait until the end for any questions or comments. It’s a bit long, so I apologize in advance if I bore you.’

“First of all, I want you to know that you’re my favorite client. Working on the case with you has been such a pleasure, because I got to know you. Thank you for being so honest and goodhearted. I have to admit, Dongho, that throughout my entire career as a lawyer, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as sincere as you have been. Many times I would defend a client I didn’t personally believe in or trust, but in your case, I trusted you and admired how you didn’t sugar-coat or manipulate things to your advantage. I’m different than you in that regard.’

“I manipulate and distort the truth. I don’t like doing it, but it’s part of my job. It’s part of my job to smile at clients I don’t like and make them seem like the good guys in cases when they’re obviously the bad guys. It’s my job to sometimes condemn good people to jail, even when they don’t deserve it.’

“I also thought it was part of my job to lie to you, so that we could make a better case for full custody. I didn’t want you to lose an important testimony, so I manipulated the truth that night when you came over and told me how you felt about me. Dongho, I also really like you. I know ‘like’ is a vague word with multiple layers of meaning, but what I mean is that I have feelings for you and that I want us to be closer, more than just friends…” Minhyun paused. He was tempted to lift his eyes from the phone screen to glean Dongho’s reaction, but couldn’t bring himself to.

He cleared his throat and continued to read. “I lied to you and said that I didn’t feel the same way, because I wanted you to win, Dongho. I thought that if you ended things with your ex-lover, that would mean one less testimony, which would mean you wouldn’t win. Thinking back, I regret that. I probably made you feel bad. I wish I were more honest with you, like you were with me.’

“The truth is that I could not stop thinking about you as well. You’ve been on my mind since even before we kissed that night. I always buried those feelings though, because they were unprofessional. But then you initiated something, and I led you on, and I wanted more and more of you.’

“I’m sorry that I was dishonest with you. I feel especially guilty, because you trusted me, and I still lied. I just hope you know that the lie was not bred of any wicked intentions. I just really wanted you to get Minki back. I wanted it so bad, that I put my own job on the line when I tricked your ex-wife. I wanted it so bad, that I didn’t care that I pushed someone I wanted away, toward someone else.’

“I made a mistake; I don’t want to push you away anymore, and now, I have the chance to set things right. I only hope you’ll forgive me, and let me into your life. I would love to know you better, and I hope you still want to know me. I’m willing to tell and show you everything if you’d let me.’

“Perhaps this whole thing is just a long-winded way of asking you to go out with me, on a date. Maybe tomorrow? We can take Minki to this costume cafe in Gangnam, where he can dress as a superhero or a princess, or whatever he wants. He’s a child with a vivid imagination, I think he’ll love it there.’

“I rest my case,” Minhyun finally said, before locking his phone and finally lifting his head to look at Dongho.

Dongho was biting his lip, holding back a smile. His eyes were bright and happy, and Minhyun relaxed when he saw that. Maybe this will end happily after all.

“Hwang Minhyun, you are…” Dongho trailed off. “You are something else.” He laughed.

“What’s funny?” Minhyun asked.

“You’re funny,” Dongho said. “Confessing like a true lawyer. That was like a whole five-minute speech!”

“It wasn’t meant to be like that. I had it memorized last night, but when it came to it...”

“You had it  _ memorized _ ?” Dongho burst out laughing.

“Well, I needed it to be perfect!”

“If you said ‘I like you too, go out with me,’ that would have sufficed!”

“Sufficed for what? You still didn’t give me an answer!”

Dongho cleared his throat and straightened his back, putting on a comical poker face. “Thank you Minhyun. I will review your proposal and get back to you in due time. The standard waiting time for a response is four to six working days. Kindly fill out the review request form and send it to my email so that we can process it.”

Minhyun chuckled, amused. He found it strangely attractive to hear Dongho talking like that, “You’re not really going to make me wait four to six working days though, are you?”

“We are currently at full capacity, and will only be able to process your request in four to six working days. We ask for your kind understanding and thank you for your patience.”

Minhyun bit his lower lip, enjoying the banter. “This task is  _ urgent _ . I would appreciate it if you could expedite the process and send your response ASAP.”

“As per personal policy, I will be unable to accommodate your urgent request at this time…”

“Oh gosh, just…  _ shut up _ ,” Minhyun said before grabbing Dongho’s shoulders and pressing their lips together.

He felt Dongho’s lips smile under his, before they melted into Minhyun’s to deepen and prolong the kiss.

Sparks flew, and engulfed Minhyun’s body in a pleasant warmth that Minhyun wished could last forever. He wanted more and more, which led him to draw closer until he was nearly straddling Dongho’s lap, whose hands now fondled over his back and waist.

Minhyun wished he weren’t wearing a jumpsuit.

“Daddy?” the high-pitched voice caused them to pull apart immediately, jolted.

“Uh… um Minki? Why are you here? Go back to bed, baby,” Dongho told his sleepy son as he struggled to regain his composure and get the hair out of his eyes.

Minhyun also fumbled backward on the sofa, clearing his throat and forcing himself to smile for Minki.

“I need to pee,” Minki mumbled. “Why are you kissing the superhero?”

“Because I like him,” Dongho answered, glancing in Minhyun’s direction, still flustered. “Let’s get you on the toilet now,” Dongho said, standing up to take him.

“I think the superhero needs to go to the toilet too,” Minki noted pointing toward Minhyun’s lower body. When Minhyun looked down to see what Minki was pointing to, he was absolutely mortified.

Why did he have to be wearing a latex jumpsuit!?

Dongho burst out laughing as Minhyun frantically looked around for a pillow to cover the shame. “Yeah, I think you’re right, Minki. For now, let’s get you on the toilet and back to bed, and we’ll deal with the superhero later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONE! Enjoyed? I hope?  
> Can you believe that this was meant to be a one-shot submitted for a secret santa fic fest? Lol. Merry (very) late Christmas :)
> 
> I might add a chapter with deleted scenes in case you guys are interested because there are A LOT of those!
> 
> Anyways, it was fun to write this, thank you for all the LOVE AND SUPPORT and comments! Maybe i’ll be back soon with another nuest fic. Maybe. We’ll see. :)
> 
> BYE
> 
> (also dont forget to stream i'm in trouble)


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